A Scion in Creation
by Arthur Hansen
Summary: The daughter of a goddess? Pfff. There's one of those in every bar in creation it seems like. After all, how much difference is there between 'godblood' and 'scion?
1. Arrival

Part 1: Arrival

Outside the city of Lookshy lay an ancient manse on an overgrown hill, abandoned and lacking power from its dragonlines when a circle of power activated. Its long dead Solar master had been cunning in hiding it, indeed; most people would not have looked on the ceiling under a fresco of the Unconquered Sun.

So when a figure appeared, upside down and quite unaware of the tricky hiding spot, she fell sixty feet to the debris covered floor. Luckily, she was quite quick to react, and her hands slapped down and stopped her from slamming head first into the piles of rock. With a quick flip, the young girl landed on her feet with preternatural grace, her blue-green eyes taking in the dimly lit ruins.

"This doesn't really look much like a palace of last defense," she muttered to herself. Well, perhaps it had been, a long time ago. But without its master, it was going to be much harder to find a way back to Athena's workshop.

* * *

She finally found her way outside, discovering that the ruins were on top of a plateau, though with how overgrown the ruins were, it looked more like a craggy hill. The rolling hills were dotted with farms, and rice patties filled the valleys between the hills as a river snaked through the area.

"Samurai?" She said, spying some sort of fantasy form of the classic Japanese soldiers. Shading her blue-green eyes, she looked off towards an ancient village about an hour away.

With a shrug, she started to trot down the hill in ground eating, loping hops. She appeared to jog along the road, though it was more due to her speed than her actual gait. The village had many huts, but also boasted a large tea house and inn with a stable that included a gryphon pen.

"Alms for the poor?" an old man sitting in the shade under a porch called as rain started to drizzle down from the gray sky. He was sitting next to another beggar that looked too weak to even beg.

"I don't really have much, but I can give you some of my change from my land, of revered one," the girl said as she dug out some coins. "They should at least sell for the novelty."

"Revered one?" he asked in a totally false manner.

"Of course, spirit one. A minor kami, if I am not mistaken." She gave him a smile that displayed her dimples.

"You have discerning eyes. You are correct. I am the Virta, Beggar of the Three Fold Road and Fields of Misa, little god for the lost of life." The minor godling bowed at the waist.

"Sheila, daughter of Athena," the girl replied as she returned his bow.

"You do not have any purviews or domains?" the old looking godling asked.

"I'm not a goddess yet, so cannot really claim such an eminent thing. And 'damned little brat' really doesn't quite have that legendary ring," she replied as she sat down on the porch next to him and his beggar friend. "So tell me of these lands, for I am afraid I am from very far away."

"This village holds allegiance to Lookshy, home of the 7th Legion of the Scavenger Lands," He paused for a moment, seeing a lack of comprehension on her face, "None of this means anything to you, does it?" the godling asked, looking perturbed as he pulled out a long pipe to light it up and start smoking.

"I'm afraid not. And the great lands? The continents?" the demigoddess asked.

"There is the Realm, under the Scarlet Empress, and then the islands of the far west. Otherwise there are the periphery lands; the fire to the south, the wood of the east and the wind of the north. You can walk these lands if you are patient enough, but it would take years. Yet you speak the tongue of the River Folk." Virta pursed his old lips around his stained pipe.

"I am able to learn languages just by hearing one sentence. Your greeting taught me your language, kind Virta."

The godling immediately changed to another tongue. "Is that really true?" he asked in Old Realm.

"If you are asking if I can speak this tongue, then yes I can." She gave him a grin as he started laughing.

Several of the village children were watching the strange group on the the porch of the tea house. This eventually drew out the matron as the rain drizzled on.

"Virta! Welcome Beggar King." She pulled out a small jade ring-coin. "May even your worshippers need refreshment. Who is your friend?"

"Mistress Fumi! This is Sheila, a God-Blooded that is stranded in our lands. She might need to see the services of a sorcerer. Old Regua still hangs his shingle in Lookshy, yes?"

"I think he is mostly retired, Virta. Not everyone is immortal like you. Even the Dragon-Blooded die of old age, and he is almost three hundred," the pretty Asian-featured woman said with a smile. "What a pretty color of hair, just like straw. Is that from your mother?"

"Um... it's actually fairly common where I come from. My mother is actually darker haired." Sheila stood up from her cross-legged seat. She then bowed to Fumi. "Thank you for your kindness. Is there any chores I can help with to earn a meal this day?"

"What can you do?" the matron of Blessings Tea House asked.

"Well, I'm sure I can handle any physical labor you need. I'm not sure how well I could do serving tea," the girl said doubtfully.

"You don't look especially strong," Fumi said doubtfully.

"I'm much stronger than I look," the demigoddess said as she flexed a bicep to show a defined (yet not huge) muscle.

* * *

Two hours later, Sheila had chopped all the logs the teahouse had gathered using a very large ax. She took five minutes to maintain the ax's sharpness and set it back in the shed and locked it back up. "Mistress Fumi, I have completed the task."

The petite and dainty woman came gliding out in her kimono-styled outfit. She hid her surprise at the very large piles of stacked wood. "Well then, it is time for tea. And perhaps some bread, cheese and fruits."

The inside of the tea house was laid out in private booths that people sat in low stool at the tables. There was a bar behind which a young man stood greeting customers. Between one step and another, Sheila was suddenly perfectly clean, even if her T-shirt and blue-jeans just did not fit the elegant style of the servers and rough land owners.

"So what sort of work do you do normally?" Fumi asked as she set the bowls on the table that Sheila was sitting at.

"I'm a warrior, though I was going to study at a University after the war ends. I'm actually here to learn from someone my mother met a long time ago... but I think he is actually dead." She shrugged at that. "It was thousands of years ago, but she had hoped I might find some information on fighting Titans."

"Titans?" Fumi asked. "And if you don't mind me asking, young lady, how old are you?"

"Oh, I'm only fifteen. Titans, in my reality, are the primal parents of the gods. My great-great grandparents are Titans," she explained. "They were overthrown by their children, but they recently broke free of their prison and are currently looking to kill them and their children (including myself!) and my mortal world." She popped a grape into her mouth to punctuate her finishing her explanation.

"So Titans are your Creation's version of Primordials? I am afraid you have come here for naught, young God-Blooded. The warriors that defeated the Primordials had grown evil and prideful. They are known as Anathema and hide from the current masters of the Realm, the Dragonblooded[1]." Fumi looked slightly freaked out by the thought that this girl was looking for information on how to fight such powerful creatures. "You look a little small to be a heroine to fight such great foes."

"That is rather frustrating. Then I'll have to find someone to assist me getting back to my, Creation you say? To my Creation so that I can search another way back to my world."

That was when the noise of a large group of horsemen outside was heard. Eight men slammed open the paper doors from the porch. Fumi immediately stood up, bowing at her waist as she approached. "Please, there is no need for violence here. We are peaceful-"

The lead tough, by dint of being taller, more muscular and scarred man of about five foot six inches, loomed over the matron of the tea shop. "No, I'm afraid we are going to have to be rude and violent, madam." He slapped her hard and sent her to the ground. "Anyone here thinks they are a hero and I-"

Sheila appeared in front of him, snapping a forward kick into his chest that sent him flying through his bruisers and back outside. His bandits all followed him out, two at a time, to land in a groaning pile. "That really was rude," the slightly shorter, lithe and lighter-haired girl said as she walked out the door dusting her hands off. "There was no reason to attack Mistress Fumi."

"Well, you just signed your death writ, girl," the leader of the bandits said as he staggered to his feet and pulled out a very rusty sword. "Burn it down."

He suddenly keeled over, his head spraying blood as a crack of a gunshot echoed through the air.

That froze the rest of the bandits as they stared at the young woman that was not matching any of their expectation.

"No, you are not going to harm any to these villagers. You are going to surrender or die. That is your choice," the demigoddess stated coldly to the thugs.

One thug went for a loaded crossbow and was promptly gunned down.

"Next?"

* * *

The local officer of the Sumahee province rode his horse hard to the village of Misa of the Plains. He was hastily garbed in his green jade armor; a messenger had come up to his home to tell of bandits within his land. He hoped to catch them before they could disappear, as he had let rumor state he was in Lookshy for a staff meeting.

"Chozei[2] Ushimo, there are horses and men tied up in front of the tea house. It appears there was a wandering hero," his right-hand man called out. His sharp eyes were able make out such details from about a mile down the road.

"Then some good will come of today other than some riding so I'm not so out of shape," the old officer called out in a gruff voice, even though he looked quite young.

They slowed down just a little bit, but kept their hands upon their swords' hilts. A young girl was going through a pile of weapons in the center of town next to the tied up bandits and four dead bodies. "Hello!"

Ushimo hopped off his horse like someone that was a third his age. "And who are you, young girl, to have so slain Agmir the Horrid?"

"I'm Sheila! Do I get to keep any of this as a reward? Or is there a reward? I find myself lacking in funds and stranded here," she called out. "Oh, I think Mistress Fumi and the god of Beggars mentioned that they considered me a God-blooded."

All of the soldiers with him were starting to laugh.

"Does the colored armor mean something in particular?" she asked of the grizzled leader in his vividly bright green jade-metal armor.

"Yes, it symbolizes that I am of the Wood Element of the Dragonblooded," the grizzled man said with a wry grin. "I'm surprised you did not know this, considering your obvious power."

"Stranded in Creation, actually. I'm not from around here." She was whistling happily as she organized the rough swords and daggers.

"You are from the Wyld?" Ushimo asked carefully.

All of his men froze.

"Nope." She had noted their reaction, of course. "I take it the Wyld is bad?"

"Yes, just a bit. And how do you know you are not part of the Wyld then?" The captain of the 8th Calvery Group of Lookshy asked.

"I'm way too organized. Not quite to the level of obsessive-compulsive disorder, scientifically speaking, but I like things in their place."

"You do speak in a strange way. What are your intentions then?"

"To go home. Your Primordial Slayers are all gone and so there is nothing here to learn." She sighed at that. "I understand there is an old mage named Regua in the city of Lookshy?"

"Well, perhaps part of your reward for capturing these bandits will be papers of visitation so that you can seek this Regua of Lookshy." The name sounded familiar to Ushimo, but he could not quite remember.

"That would be quite kind."

"In fact, I insist that you stay the night at my manor. I would like to take supper with you."

* * *

The manor was a Japanese-styled castle, fairly small as things went. Just a small fortified main building with steeple-roofs on top of a small hill. Sheila was led by a servant to some quarters and told that there would be a small, formal supper in about an hour.

"Formal. My mother was right," Sheila grumbled as she dragged her traveling wardrobe out of its pocket space and set it down carefully.

The servant blinked in surprise as the wardrobe was opened and different dresses were pulled out. There was, amazingly enough, a kimono of blue and yellows that Athena had included in a style that would almost not be noticed as slightly different. Then they did up her hair.

"So would a sword be considered required?" Sheila asked the servant carefully as her hair was put up with hair-pins.

"If you are a warrior, it would be required," the dark-haired girl replied.

"I figured as much."

So that was how Sheila ended up arriving for the supper with her black longsword Hadecleus carefully inserted in her waist wrap. Ushimo also saw that she had a handle that was very like the sort used for a hand-crossbow or the southern fire wands protruding from the wrap. She bowed politely to him before seating herself in front of the low lying table.

"You clean up very nicely, though I do have to say that hair the color of the sun is quite striking. And your skin is naturally pale and of clear complexion. My home is brightened by your presence," the older Dragon-Blood said as he tilted his head slightly. In fact, he was understating her beauty, as the sunflower actually outshone most of the pretty woman that he knew in Lookshy.

"And I am very honored to be allowed to visit such an illustrious homestead. Your courtesy has been exquisite. I am humbled that you would open your home to a stranger from so far away," Sheila said as she bowed her head to the prerequisite ten degrees as she let herself be guided by her legend.

That was disconcerting to the old Dragon-Blood, as the girl was obviously far from home. "I have ordered that we take supper to the sound of my daughter's lute. She is quite the catch, even if she has not yet Exalted."

Paper walls were slid back as a pretty young girl led in servants. She set herself down upon a cushion and started strumming a stanza, before singing of the beauty of a forest overlooking a sea filled with dragons.

They ate the eight course meal with decour, speaking of the inconsequential.

"Sheila, do you have any plans beyond going to Lookshy?" Ushimo asked.

"Beyond visiting Regua the Mage, not much. Really, I'll probably take a look to see how wars are fought locally. But that is more academic interest as my mother is a goddess of war, and it's something I study also."

Ushimo nodded his rugged features. "Indeed. You do not look very imposing, but you must have powerful charms and magic to subdue those villains."

Sheila blinked in confusion. "Actually, I just shot them. While my mental abilities are much more substantial than my strength, I am not weak."

"Interesting. You do not look older than fourteen or fifteen," the old soldier said as he looked over the girl with a practiced and casual look.

"I'm actually only twelve, but I've been fighting monsters for over a year and my legend has grown greatly." She nodded her head slightly before sipping at the rice wine.

"Do you mind crossing practice swords with myself?" Ushimo asked casually.

"I would be honored to do so. It is obvious that you are a puissant warrior."

They sat casually and finished the after supper drink; Sheila was juggling ideas in her head when Ushimo finally stood up. His craggy mustache was twitching as he stifled a laugh and walked out to a very small porch. A servant appeared with two wooden practice swords that were very similar to bokken.

Sheila drew upon her legend a second time to match his courtesy in the upcoming practice. "Do you have a preference on which practice weapon you would like to use?"

"Either is fine," the old man replied.

They each took one and faced the other twenty feet apart, as several youngsters sat inside the castle to watch them. They were quite surprised as the two stood motionless, facing each other for over ten minutes before both seemed to attack simultaneously.

Ichiga, one of Ushimo's younger daughters, watched in shock. "I could not see who lost the Confrontation." The girl looked barely older than her but was fighting her father to a standstill.

The clack of wood upon wood was a rapid and intemperate beat, with the setting sun behind them. Already the battle had lasted fifteen minutes longer than Ushimo would have thought possible. He had defeated many foes that were not as quick nor as strong as this strange girl from far off.

It was only as the sun was setting that he realized that Sheila was letting him not be defeated. Somehow she had determined that it would shame him to be defeated in his home and in front of his family. So far, they had traded a dizzying array of attacks and counter attacks that would have normally sent his blood boiling in battle.

And yet he had not touched her once, even when he had carefully tried to enhance his attack with several low-key charms.

He pulled back as he tried to stop his eyes from blinking due to the sweat running down his brow. "Perhaps we could continue this at a later time?"

"I would be honored," Sheila replied as she bowed her shoulders slightly.

[1] The Terrestrial Exalted, natural born 'elemental demigods'.

[2] A rank within the 'Shogunate' style militaries of Creation. Roughly a master sergeant.

* * *

Part 2: Lookshy the Vigilant

The next morning, Sheila found herself riding on a very large horse in the company of Ushimo, his guards and three of his children as they travelled along a dusty road in between farms. It looked like some sort of beet or potato crop was grown in that area.

Up ahead, a massive walled city lay on a large hill next to a massive river. "I can see why you call this a river," she called out to the old soldier, getting a laugh from him.

"This is near where it meets the Inner Sea. Mighty Lookshy has never fallen or been occupied since it was founded centuries ago." He let loose a sigh as he saw the line. "It appears we shall have to wait a little while at the gate. There is a caravan arriving."

The blonde demigoddess shrugged at that, but was more interested in seeing the archaic wagons that were drawn by horses and oxen, with a few odd beasts of legend among them, like a wyvern and a gryphon.

Then there appeared to be a metallic navy-blue golem and a group of thirty soldiers that were drawing up. The fifteen foot tall war-machine was tromping along at a decent pace with sword and spear on its back, but seemed to be limping. They had just set themselves in front of the caravan, but behind the war machine and its escort.

"Chozei Draji! What did you do to your warstrider!" the taizai[1] at the gate called out.

"It started acting up a few miles back after a short battle with brigands. I think that someone did not complete the repairs as ordained by the crafters of the Aviary. May I be cleared to enter into Lookshy to get my warstrider repaired?" the muffled, female voice called out from within it.

"Your commanding officer will want a full report to verify that you did not push Defender of the Ultimate Bullwark too hard," he called out. He stepped out of the way and the warstrider started to lean forward to step in when something snapped, quite loudly.

The deep blue war machine tilted forward, and had started to fall upon the guards of the gate when a blur flashed over and caught the two ton machine by the scruff of its neck.

"Everyone all right here?" Sheila asked as she held up the huge magitech warmachine as easily as a grown man would carry a house cat while flying overhead. "Where would you like me to set this?"

The chuzei blinked and then pointed over to an open area in the courtyard. "Right there should be fine."

Draji was just catching up to what had happened. "My warstrider! It should not have fallen like that."

"Should I put you face down or on your back?" the demigoddess asked.

"On my back, please." The dragonblooded warrior inside was quite upset.

Once the warstrider was laid out, she opened the access hatch and started untying the Orichalcium control cables. Draji started looking around for the warrior that had saved her from seriously injuring the guards at the gate. "Who do I give thanks to for saving me from injuring my comrades?" she called out.

A very young girl of slight build coughed. "Um, that would be me. Do you mind if I look at your warstrider?"

The tall dragonblood was only a few inches taller than Sheila, but much more muscular and older looking. Draji glanced at everyone else in the courtyard and realized they were nodding at the blonde. "My thanks, girl. I am Draji the Tenacious. Of course you can look, though now I have to get a couple of other warstriders help." The other members of her heavy armor fang[1] were going to be making fun of her for decades.

"Thanks!"

Ushimo shook his head as the girl's enthusiastic demeanor as he quickly talked to the Chuzei. "You are quite lucky, Tomi," he said.

Draji blinked as the girl casually lifted up the damaged leg to start peering into the crevices. From her pocket she had pulled out some sort of magical light and was examining it intently. The strange-haired girl frowned, then looked further inside. "I'm no expert on these devices, but that looks like it was cut through so that it would break if you leaned forward."

"What?" the dark-haired Dragon-Blood warrior yelled out in shock. "Chuzei Tomi, there may be treachery involved here."

The Guardian of the Gate frowned as he thought furiously; he could see how that could work. His treacherous second in command even had a close cousin that worked at the factory cathedral Aviary and would have been in charge of repairing the 'defective' warstrider.

Sheila clicked off her flashlight and stuffed it back in her fanny-pack, turning to watch all of them casually to see how the affair would play out.

"Chozei Draji, you will only hand your warstrider off to the high priest of the Factory Temple. Do everything to get this to him immediately, under my authority," Tomi ordered. "Chozei Ushimo, if I could have you witness this? Fichi, you are relieved of duty for the rest of the week pending a further investigation."

The younger Dragon-Blood scowled at him, but saluted, turned and then left.

Sheila leaned over to Draji, who was sitting on her warstrider's arm. "You might want to have the red-haired man over there also. He is suddenly very nervous."

"Thanks," the warrior said softly. "Remu, you are relieved of duty. Return to your home and do not leave until summoned."

Ushimo shook his head. "You seem to have a way of falling into interesting times, young Sheila."

The blonde-haired demigoddess actually laughed at that, her voice light and clear. "That is part of being of legendary stature, you keep falling into 'fateful' and 'interesting' times. How would you be tested otherwise?" She had a wide grin on her face.

"Perhaps your mother has put in a word to have you watched in the heavens," the old dragon blood noted.

"Possibly. Say, Chozei Draji, you need to get this to your 'Factory Cathedral' right? If you hire me for a decent fee, I'll do it for you right now," the young demigoddess offered while still grinning.

"You can carry a warstrider all the way to the Inner Sanctum?" she asked in shock.

"Certainly. While I'm not a patch on my uncle Hercules who actually carried the sky on his shoulders for a while, I'm pretty strong," She held up her right arm to flex its muscles like a mini-body builder.

"You uncle was strong enough to carry the sky?" Ushimo asked carefully. The old and craggy soldier was thinking furiously. "I think I might have misconstrued something. What gods are above your mother in your hierarchy?"

That got Sheila to raise her eyebrows in confusion. "My grandfather, who is King of the Gods and Mount Olympus. Athena is held in equal revere to all of his sibling and his other children."

The chozei waited for her to delineate more ranks above her grandfather, only to realize she did not seem to believe there was any above them. "That is rather shocking. I was under the impression that she was a minor war goddess of a single land," Ushimo admitted as he mentally upped her standing in her pantheon.

"I would be honored if you helped me carry my warstrider," Draji said slowly. "I would even be willing to invite you into my home afterwards."

With a bit of borrowed rope to tie the warstrider's arms to its body, Sheila hefted the giant warmachine to her far too small looking shoulders. It caused quite a stir as they walked up the wide, defensible streets after getting her the proper paperwork to travel the inner city for the day. It was quite a gaggle of humans and nonhumans that watched the very strange sight of a warstrider being carried up the street.

"And you are truly only a god-blooded, not an actual goddess?" Draji asked about an hour later as she worked to keep pace with young girl.

"Yes, still mortal here. Though I'm very close to my apotheosis. That's why Athena trusted me to travel to this far off reality to try and find a way to fight the Titans," Sheila was explaining.

Two entities were watching the last, inner gate that led to the heart of Lookshy. One was an incredibly tall man, standing about seven feet tall with a long gray beard and skin as dry as paper. By his side stood a more youthful woman in full Legion dragon plate armor, black with moonsilver chase.

"That isn't a sight you generally see," Tien Yu, the matron goddess of Lookshy's legions, said to the old god.

"A new thing in Lookshy? I cannot see if she is a threat, but she... she disturbs the essence of the city. Can you not see how it swirls around her? Only you and I do affect the flows in the land so much," Tu Yu, ancient god of the lost city that Lookshy was built upon, said with a worried, furrowed brow.

"But she seems to see Lookshy as opportunity," the powerful goddess replied. "And we should see her as an opportunity. Let us speak with the little gods of the city and not let this fall through our grasp."

* * *

"She was exactly correct. Someone sabotaged this to break if you leaned forward deeply, like many of you would to get through the small gate," the white-haired head of the Factory Cathedral said. "So there won't be any condemnation for over-working your warstrider, Draji."

Defender of the Ultimate Bullwark was on a massive platform as workers burnt incense while they prepared to work at repairing the common warstrider. High arches carried statuary and windows high over their heads. The Dragon-Blooded pilot relaxed slightly at the sight.

Sheila was quietly watching the proceedings, greatly interested in the processes involved, "So these Warstriders are very maintenance intensive, I take it?"

"You are not going to profane our work by saying you could do better, are you?" The foreman of the shift demanded.

"Not at all," Sheila said, "I was just going to suggest that if walking them to and from battle causes such wear and tear, that perhaps a conveyance that is more suited to long travel might be considered. In my lands, our war machines are sometimes carried by airplanes, ships or trucks on roads."

"I know I would be interested in a way to not wear out my warstrider before we got to battle," Draji called out politely. "It's a standard tactic to attack just after the warstriders arrived, when they are weakened. We won several battles against the Realm that way."

"Do not be afraid of new things just because they seem impossible," the head priest chided his foreman. "Come to my office and show me what you mean."

He led them to an office that seemed more suited to royalty than a working man, but it did have a large table with scrolls laid out on it.

"May I have a blank scroll to work on?" Sheila asked.

Draji had followed along like the guest she was. She watched as the young God-Blooded pulled out a short, colorful stick from her backpack and then clicked something on it a few times. In minutes she watched the girl flesh out a large wagon with huge wheels, pulled by an 'engine', a warstrider drawn to scale.

The high priest was watching closely as the design seemed to come alive. "This is quite interesting. What are these wheels made of?"

"In my land they are inflated, vulcanized rubber. Along with the shock absorbers, they should allow you to travel about twice as fast as a horse along most good roads," she gave them a grin as she continued to work. "I don't know what sort of engines you can use, but basically as long as you can spin this drive shaft here, it should go forward and backwards correctly."

"And they can truly travel so quickly?" Draji asked curiously.

"It can. The better the roads, the faster you can make your trucks," she explained.

"Well, we don't have any free resources to make something, but I'll give you some jade bits for the design." The head of the Cathedral was stretching even to give that much.

"If you ever have any questions and I'm still around, I'm willing to be hired for consultation." She gave the old man a bright smile as she internally squashed the desire to prove her design and then rub his face in it.

"Sheila, let us be off to my home. I can introduce you to my husband." Draji gave the girl a soft smile, but wondered at the anger she was sensing from the girl.

* * *

Draji the Tenacious was actually fairly well off by Lookshy standards. She had a modest home just outside of the old city. Her husband was an older Dragon-Blood who was in the Lookshy navy and currently at sea, as she learned from a letter on the mantle.

"We shall have to see about getting you a longer term visitor's pass," Draji explained the next morning over breakfast. She had actually prepared it herself.

"I do appreciate this a great deal," the young girl said before taking a bite of her rice using her chopsticks.

"It is no problem, you may have helped save my career. I hope my simple fare is all right, I usually hire a temp worker to clean and get groceries, but I am home early." She gave the pale girl a broad smile. Today she was wearing a simple uniform with her rank markings on her shoulder, silver-braided ropes in a specific pattern.

Later, Sheila had her pass changed so that she was allowed up to the Academy of Sorcery for the week. Lookshy was quite interesting in her eyes; it was like an eclectic mix of medieval or renaissance culture with strange anachronisms of magic.

She actually frowned at the heavy stone blocks in the Academy of Sorcery. "Exactly how... energetic is the magic here?" She had a feeling it was not the subtle magics of fate that some gods weaved.

"Well, I haven't heard that they let loose a demon or elemental in the last two seasons," the chozei explained with black humor. Her almost white hair seemed to glow in the sunlight.

"That probably just jinxed us, didn't it?" Sheila said in an overdone and theatrical manner. She really did half-expect a demon to start laying waste to the facility and was suitably surprised when they managed to enter the entrance and talk to a sturdy looking woman behind the first open desk of six without an outbreak of violence.

"Next!" she called out. "Entrance to the Academy of Sorcery is currently closed for the year, but you are free to fill out paperwork."

"I'm actually here to see about petitioning for an audience with the August Regua. I understand he may be the only person capable of assisting me in returning to my world outside of Creation." Sheila's ichor thrummed as it guided her to fit in appropriately the specific phrases needed to not set off a political landmine.

"Dean Regua is in, but it is usually weeks before he becomes available."

"Perchance could I seek to speak with his personal attendant, so that I may work closely to gain this privileged access to such an august personage?" Sheila said smoothly, applying some of the political acumen she had picked up dealing with some of the more prickly Chinese and Japanese gods.

The stout woman was actually quite surprised, as the girl seemed far too young to be so versed in the Arts of Bureaucracy. "Please wait here and I will see if this is possible."

Twenty minutes later, they were seated outside the Dean's office to speak to his personal secretary. Sheila blinked and looked down towards the doorway to the outer office. "It appears that our jinx has caught up to us, Draji the Tenacious."

Draji looked over, then paled as the sound of something crashing down the hall towards them sounded in heavy thuds. The secretary screamed in panic, trying to hide under her desk. The heavy wooden door shattered as the massive, muscled form of a great red ape landed in the room with a heavy thud. His heavy howl seemed to freeze them for a second as he charged through the next door into the inner office.

Before the splinters from the door landed, the Blood Ape found itself face-planted in the plush carpet.

"I somehow don't think he's here for tea," Sheila noted as she held the massive demon down in a modified full-nelson hold, trying to avoid getting an eye impaled on his shoulder-spikes.

The older looking dragon-blood behind the desk was just coming to his feet and started to chuckle. "Why, yes you might be a bit correct. Are you going to be able to hold it back? They are quite strong." He brushed his robes into perfection as a young Dragon Blood soldier came into the room, a dagger in her hand.

"I'm sure he can wiggle out eventually," Sheila noted. Then she slammed her forehead into the back of its skull four times. "So let's knock him out."

The Blood Ape started to swear and promise dire curses upon her, if a bit woozily after the fourth blow. "I shall drink your blood and pour vitriol upon your soul!" it promised in a foul malfeasance of the ancient corruption of the language known as High Realm.

"I could have done without learning that language. Bleargh," she complained and then head-butted him again.

"Hmm. He was headed right here, wasn't he? So probably an assassination attempt. I don't know why he would bother. I've got one foot in my grave," the old Dragon-Blood complained. And he did look quite old.

"Not too old to help me get home, I hope." The young girl hopped up to her feet as she studied the unconscious demon.

"I probably have a season or two at most, girl. So you had better have a backup plan," Regua said snidely.

"Well, perhaps we could haggle? I might be able to extend your life for a few decades. You would call it a charm, but it is just part of my primal nature of healing."

"If you can do that, I think there are some very old nobles that would be interested," the old mage declared with a chuckle.

"Okay." With that, she waved her hand. "That should slow your aging down a lot. That should give you several decades for only one of your last days of your life."

Draji blinked. "That... was very simple. How powerful are you?" She knew that powerful terrestrial gods could grant a form of immortality, but were quite loathe to do so considering what it cost them personally.

"I'm not really sure, actually. I don't have a good frame of reference to your local gods and demigods." Sheila shrugged at that.

"Well, if I'm still alive here next year, I'll be more than willing to help you. I do hope you visit my shrine though," Regua said. "Now if you don't mind, I have to track down whoever wanted me dead badly enough to summon a demon to murder me."

"Any idea why they want you dead?" Draji asked in a very severe and business manner.

"I found an ancient scroll from before the Shogunate that details a third Celestial Exaltation. Not only did the Solars exist and their horrific mates, the Lunars, but a secretive group known as Sidereals who were the advisors to the Solars. But nothing is said of them, as if they never existed. The Solars were driven to extinction while the Lunars were driven to the edges of the Wyld... but the advisors seemed to have utterly vanished into the abyss of history."

Sheila and Draji both frowned, but it was the alien demigoddess that spoke. "You know, there is a saying that may be appropriate. It deals with the main supernatural evil that is called The Devil in my lands. It was said that he was the King of Lies, but that his greatest lie is that he convinced everyone that he did not even exist."

"And you think... Wait, the lie is that he does not exist... meaning that he really exists but no one believes he does. There are Anathema that still walk Creation that no one remembers?" Regua asked in shock.

"Hmm. Now that would be a trick," Sheila muttered to herself. "So, do you think I would be able to get a job here in Lookshy?"

Draji nodded. "I would be more than happy to sponsor you here, though you will have to be monitored."

"That assumes I have anything that I care to hide," she nodded. "Chozei Regua, until we see you later?"

"Of course. Of course." And if he did live a year, well he would be more than happy to speak with her on what he owed.

He had no idea that Sheila had extended his last days by over a century.

* * *

Foladine the Unusual looked over at the young girl that had joined his minor workshop just a month ago, then back over to the ship she had convinced him to make. It lay low in the water and did not even have a sail, using an engine powered by essence itself.

The officer from the Bureau of Procurement looked at the sleek motorboat dubiously. "And this is the vessel that you wish me to travel to Nexus upon? It does not look too comfortable for such a long journey." The vessel was only about forty feet long

"You do give us great compliment in accepting our humble request. Perhaps the journey will be short enough that it will not be a great burden?" Sheila said glibly as her ichor guided her to act appropriately in the situation, displaying proper etiquette towards the fairly high ranking chuzei of the Lookshy Navy.

All of them crossed the short gangplank and to the upper level which looked very much like 'magitech' to their eyes. The youthful girl in a civilian uniform of a pilot stood at a small steering wheel, but without any guild markings.

"As you can see, this is a new innovation. I trust it greatly, as we have already undergone our trials in the last week," the water-aspected dragonblood Foladine was explaining. "Sheila has been able to give me some wonderful insights into some sciences which have aided us in creating this vessel."

Taizei Armid nodded dubiously, but was willing to give them a chance. Especially after the bribe. "So how long do you expect the journey to take?"

"Oh, only two days or so," Sheila said seriously as she advanced the lever of the engine. She spun the boat tightly in the cramped harbor, getting very untrusting glares from the sail ships and sneers from sailors of the massive warships powered by First Age essence engines. She kept it relatively slow until they made it out and onto the river. "Watch carefully, Taizei Armid," she called out to the two century old officer.

Not that he actually looked that old, as he looked quite young as the Dragonblood (or any Exalted in fact) tended to, but he was greatly surprised when he felt the engine accelerate, then it seemed to almost hesitate then accelerated more slowly. The front of the ship seemed to be lifting up as the small ship zoomed past much larger vessels.

"The ship flies?" the officer asked Foladine in consternation.

"It uses what are called hydroplanes when moving at great speed to only touch the water lightly, greatly increasing its allowed speed," the owner of the small shipyard explained.

"Interesting." He grabbed the dashboard as he saw the young girl pilot the ship, avoided obstacles with an easy hand.

* * *

Part 3: The Lost Metic

Nexus, Sheila decided, was an odd mix of fantasy and Victorian-era industrial city. If it had been united under a strong government that was not strictly directed to capitalism, it probably could have been a more major power on the great rivers. She was currently wandering through a market district, fending off pickpockets and the local thieve's guild.

She turned and gave a wink to an old man sitting next to a stall who was asking for alms and gave him a wink. "You might want to tell your friends not to ply their trade while I'm within sight," she advised.

"I'm sure I have no idea what you are talking about," the old, dark-skinned man said in an affronted manner.

"It's just some friendly advice." Sheila stopped in front of a larger shop where two guards were watching the crowd closely.

"Markul Levu's caters to a more exclusive clientele than the street vendors. He even has some rare magical weapons and items," the bored guard said.

"I would be interested." Lookshy had shops like this, but there were in a district she was not generally allowed into. That, of course, was not a problem in Nexus with its grim looking buildings and bustling markets. And totally open free-market system.

"Unless you have at least ten silvers, don't even bother entering," the second guard said.

Sheila grinned at them and pulled out a piece of jade from her pouch. "Is that good enough?" It was a part of the funds she had earned with her designs, and then invested into the new 'motor-boat' design that was turning out to be worth quite a bit.

"Quite nicely. Though you should be aware, if you do not have awakened essence, little of Levu's wares are useful." The guards bowed and then opened the door to let her step in to take in the shelves.

"An actual customer. You look a little young to be so enlightened," the dragonblooded woman said from behind the counter. She had blue hair and pale skin and wore scanty robes over her body.

"I believe you would consider me to be a god-blooded. Do you only have exotic items? Or scrolls of lost libraries?" She was looking around curiously.

"Unfortunately, most jade-steel items are snapped up fairly quickly by visiting Dragon-Bloods," Markul Levu said with a shrug.

"Well, what do you have?" Sheila asked as she looked around.

"The Black and White Librams and several scrolls of spells. Wards versus ghosts, spirits, elements and diseases. A jade-steel daiklaive. I also carry some items that the Immaculate order considers to be heretical. An orichalcum wave daiklaive along with a few other Solar Deliberative era items, though nothing of real power," the pale Dragon-Blood noted.

"I understand that certain materials are supposed to be more metaphysically compatible with your element? Like the Dragon-Blood and their terrestrial elements of Earth, Fire, Wind, Water and Wood?" she asked curiously.

"Correct. Jade for the Terrestrial, Orichalcum for the Solar Anathema and Moonsilver for the Lunar. There are rumors of other, strange materials. Like golden Jade, Soul Steel and Star Metal forged from fallen gods," Markul explained happily.

"So Orichalcum, Moonsilver, Star Metal and Gold Jade are Celestial materials?" the young demigoddess asked, purposefully making a mistake on the Jade.

"All Jade is terrestrial, of course, but in essence you are correct." She brought out a red steel daiklaive and set it on the table. "Here, with it being not attuned, this is merely steel. Attune to it and you will have a burning weapon of destruction to wreak havoc upon your enemies." She noted the girl picking up the weapon fairly easily, even without attuning to it.

"Hmm. This is taking quite a bit of time and effort to attune. Which is not surprising, as I'm probably not considered Terrestrial in origin."

"Why don't you attune to it, just to get a feel," the proprietor said with a warm smile. "I will have some tea brought."

Sheila spent the next hour or so attuning (and then letting the attunement lapse) to different items. None of the four Jade items seemed easier to attune, much to Markul's surprise. The Orichalcum and Moonsilver also were shown to resist her efforts to match her ichor to them.

"Aren't you tired yet?" the Dragon-Blood asked after the fifth item.

"It's tiring, but I'm not drained quite yet," the girl replied. In fact, she had used almost one-half of her legend, which was functionin as equivalent to Creation's Essence. It was not quite accurate, nor really wrong, as it was her ichor adapting to work within the framework of that reality.

Markul arched one white eyebrow at that. That put her in a rare level of strength; most Terrestrial gods would not expend so much energy. She was fairly certain that the girl was not an Exalted, as most would have shown their caste mark or anima by that point. "Well, I only have two rarities. A vile item of brass and steel, etched in vitriol and a dagger that I believe might be Star Metal."

"Well, let's take a look at your supposed Star Metal," the young demigoddess said. The dagger felt cool to her touch and did not fight her legend. "Ah, this was it. That could make sense."

"A Celestial God Blood. Which of the Sisters claims you?" Markul asked nervously.

"Sisters? Oh, I'm not from Creation. Several of my family are planetary celestial from my Creation though. Strangely, the Primordial of the world is still named Gaia in both places." Sheila scratched her head as she considered the matter of planetary naming conjunction coincidences. "My mother's celestial body is in between planet and moon, off on its own tangent. Just slightly smaller than a dwarf planet."

Sheila suddenly disappeared from where she was sitting as a blade appeared from nowhere to try and stab through her back.

"Whoa!" the demigoddess called out from a roof beam, which she was holding onto with her feet while upside down. "The Emissary? As far as I know, I have broken no laws of Nexus."

The silver-masked figure looked up at the figure over thirty feet up. "Indeed, you seem to be very versed in avoiding stepping on any of the lesser and greater precepts of Nexus." The blade had disappeared. "I came here to ascertain that you are not one of the Sidereals."

"No, but you probably won't believe me that easily. So you know about them, too? All I've heard is that rumor Chozei Regua of Lookshy had uncovered of a third, Celestial Exalted." Sheila dropped to the ground, flipping to land perfectly on one toe. "But I am no Exalted. I am Sheila, demigoddess of Excellence and Battle, daughter of Pallas Athena the Wise."

"Markul, you will forget that this ever happened. It appears I must speak to your client privately," the faceless and formless cloaked figure stated.

"Of course, Emissary. Are you going to purchase that dagger? It is quite rare, you know," the Dragon-Blood said, fighting the urge to lick her lips nervously. So that was why the enigmatic being had her send a message when someone came looking for that dagger made of Star Metal. It was his trap against the a shadowy group known as the Sidereal?

"I'll buy it, since I want to study how it was made. How much are you asking for?" the demigoddess asked.

* * *

The Emissary was an enigma, Sheila decided. He had cryptically warned her off and told her to leave Nexus alone. So she had decided to leave at that point, running all the way back to Lookshy in just a few short hours along the Yanze River's gentle currents. She passed several caravans that day, leaping over their heads rather than going around them.

She put herself in queue to go through the gate, submitting her paperwork to the Scale[1] of soldiers manning the checkpoint. The earth-aspected Dragon Blood frowned when she looked at the paperwork.

"Visitor Sheila, according to the dockmaster's reports, you left for Nexus three days ago. Has anything happened to your ship or the people aboard it?" the crusty looking man asked.

"No, as far as I know, they are perfectly fine and settled in. Unfortunately, I inadvertently upset someone of high rank in Nexus and I felt it prudent to retire to Lookshy today. At least I was able to purchase a dagger," she explained.

"Retire to Looksky... today?" the chuzei asked carefully.

Sheila looked at her wristwatch. "Yes, it was a nice run from Looksky and I still have daylight left to settle in. You might get some reports of me leaping over caravans for the next few weeks."

* * *

Winter in Lookshy was rather drab and mild, even as Sheila continued her work (now in her own, private workshop). So she was slightly surprised at the knock on her door one afternoon. Her eyes lit up in warmth at the sight. "Chozei Draji! Well met!"

The white-haired dragonblood had a cute smirk upon her face. "Well met indeed. I was asked to escort Regua the Mage here today."

The ancient dragonblood stepped in behind her, clucking at the tidy mess. "So this is where you have been since we spoke this summer?"

"Please come in. I take it you actually believe me that I have extended your life a bit?"the young demigoddess noted.

"Yes, even the soothsayers have stated I will live many years," Regua said as he narrowed his eyes to look at the device she was building. It was quite different than any magitech item he had ever seen before. "You seem to have kept yourself busy."

"Just a few minor knick-knack's, really. Creating a radio that can tap into a dragonline was an interesting afternoon's chore. Really, I need to find someone that will have information on how to get me back to my reality. Or even one of the 'anathema' that may remember some tidbit of ancient information." Sheila grimaced at that. She would hate to discover that because of her slowness that the Titans had won the war. It was so frustrating earning the resources (monetary and of favors) to purchase that ancient abode. Then to refurbish it so that she could use the portal hidden in the fresco.

"Ah, I heard that the Immaculate Order petitioned the Court and the Empress herself to bar you passage into the Realm, as they feel you break the precepts of the gods interfering with mortals," the old mage said.

"Effete dogs, the lot of them. Just like normal," Draji complained.

"Their loss. I thought that their academies of magic would be able to assist me. I'm not really attuned to learning magic myself, but I suppose I could try to do that. I really think my best bet is to purchase the plot of land I appeared in," she grumbled.

"I heard that they are thinking of inducting you into the engineer's corp as the rank of gochei[2]. Not many metics[3] are ever offered that, even other refugees that join the military. In fact, I have never heard of such a thing." Draji actually seemed a bit impressed.

"Hmm. If I do join the military, I'd probably have to look at seeing if they would let me join a more aggressive unit like the Fourth Force. Taimyo Teresu Zen Wu seems to be quite open to ideas."

Regua smiled at that. "Oh? Have you been learning a bit about Lookshy?"

"I learn about everything I find interesting. As my mother is a goddess of war, I have been extensively trained for war and combat." More on the job as a heroine though, she noted to herself.

"Well, I did find something a bit interesting. I may have found you an Anathema to seek. There have always been rumors of monsters, especially the foul servants of the Unconquered Sun that he turned his back upon in disgust. I have heard rumors from the far north of one of those, a Solar. Filthy barbarians," Regua stated in a cold tone. In fact, his auguries may actually stated where one may come to be.

"Some of those northers are quite hard and not all are uneducated, Master Regua," Draji noted diffidently.

"Well, I'm not planning on running to the coldest part of Creation during winter. It's a big place to look for one random person that probably doesn't want to be found," the young demigoddess said with a small snicker. "Who is actually being my advocate for joining the military?" Sheila was very, very glad that Lookshy and the Seventh Legion was a meritocracy.

"Chuzei Ushimo. Though I'm not sure why he is so interested in you," Draji noted curiously, her white-blue hair glinting in the sunlight through the window of the shop.

"Ah, I killed some bandits in his sector. He was quite a polite host," Sheila noted.

"Well, we shall have to see," the Dragonblooded Warstrider pilot said with a considering smile.

[1] A unit of 30 soldiers and an officer.

[2] Low ranking officer (essentially a corporal of the army.)

[3] Non-citizen, but a resident 'legal' alien.

* * *

Part 4: The Soldier

Sheila stood at attention, listening to Chozei Yachu as he bawled out the new recruits under the drab sky. She was a 'provisional' nitei, lowest of the low. Her uniform was of normal quality wool and she had a laughably pathetic spear and breastplate of beaten, polished steel as her equipment.

"You are the newest 'advanced' recruits for the 4th Field Force. Each of you possesses more than merely mortal qualities. When I am done, you will be assets to the 7th Legion. Right now I see two God-Blooded that think they are far better than 'mortals' while I've got three snot-nosed dragonbloods that probably think they are the gods gift to Creation." Yachu looked like a grizzled US Marine crossed with a shogun warrior. "We'll start with you. Imanari. Come and attack me. If you can scratch me, you will have impressed me. If you mark me, I will make you the Cochei of the 28th Fang[1]. And if you kill me, the Taimyo might even make you Chozei on your first day."

Imanari was a red-skinned teen; the son of a fire elemental. With a smirk, he came out, moving as fast as the flickering fire he was aligned with. Yachu seemed like the wind itself, casually deflecting blows from the blade of the spear with the flat of his hand.

"Pathetic. Goa. You are next." The grizzled chozei seemed totally unfazed by the eager green-haired dragonblooded woman that tried to stab him right off the mark.

Two more dragonblood (one water and one earth) both fell to the hero's far superior skill.

"I was hoping for an actual challenge," Yachu said with an obvious sigh. "Sheila. Such a strange name. Maybe you can actually mark me."

Sheila pointed off to the (seeming) side. "Are you sure?"

"This may actually be challenging then. I did not realize that you had powerful senses, Nitei Sheila. Of course, you have not even touched me yet- Yeowch!" the old man said as a lightning bolt blasted between his toes and disrupted his illusion.

The base and simple spear in her hand whirled as if it was made of finest jade. Chozei Yachu pushed his aging body to its limits, fueled by an (alarmingly) dwindling supply of essence as he did everything he would to stay ahead of the young prodigy's wall of attacks.

And between one tick of time and another, he suddenly found the spear up against his neck as he felt the stone wall at his back.

"Now if only I were Imanari, so I could be Cochei of the 28th Fang," the girl complained with a grin.

Yachu blinked then realized she had seen through his test of humility, of knowing her place. A quick wit indeed. "Yes, I think you have shown your skill at arms quite well."

"Spears can be fun I guess, but I nearly broke this one several times," Sheila said while wiggling the spear as she pulled it back.

"So you studied under a master of the spear?" Yachu asked curiously as they walked back to the very impressed new members of the 28th Fang.

"No, this is my first time using one." The poor spear rattled in her hand. "I do have a mystical connection to all forms of melee weapons."

"Ah, so it is not unexpected. You must be close to shedding your physical form." In fact, he actually expected that she was a goddess slumming as a mortal. Well, that was not his problem.

"I am pretty close. It's a pretty big step for me," the girl said excitedly. Though that last step to goddess-hood probably would require something truly epic in nature to push her Legend over the lip.

* * *

Just six months later, the 28th Fang of the 8th Scale of the 3rd Talon (also known as the Puyo Expedition Force) of the 4th Field Force of the 7th Legion was marching in the van from where they had debarked from the fleet in Varsi. Technically it was two Talons[1] of the 3rd and 18th Talon, over two hundred and fifty men. Their brilliantly polished silver armor stood out on the dun, browning grass quite brilliantly.

Sheila quirked a smile at the warstrider carriages up ahead that were kicking dust into the air. While they were not her own design from twelve months ago, she could see that they were based heavily upon it. Heavy oxen pulled the multi-ton transports along the dusty trail into the lands far to the south of Lookshy. The two warstriders were lying at rest under the scorching sun, only having to be lifted from their forty-five degree angle of rest. Springs and counter-weights were ready to move it to a vertical position quite easily.

"Gods above, I wish this heat would let up," Gao complained as she dabbed a cloth on her sweltering brow under her dark green hair. "I know how Imanari is dealing with the heat, but how can you cope, Sheila?" She tied the cloth on her brow. They were at the front of their double Fang; the other five members were 'mere mortals' though and spearman of tough repute. She wished she had a set of perfect boots to aid in marching.

"Just sturdy enough that it doesn't really bother me," the young demigoddess said even as she shrugged her shoulders.

Chozei Yachu rode up on his magnificent looking roan. "If you can talk, I am obviously not working you hard enough. Sheila, Goa! I want you to join the eastern flank scouts."

The green-haired Goa was quite unflattering with her comments under her breath, but responded loudly with Sheila, "Yes, great chozei!"

The two young women trotted across the dry grassy plain in between tufts of grass. Sheila let Goa set the pace, but directed them up to a low hill.

"I forgot to fill my waterskin," the Dragonblood complained.

"There's a river over there," Sheila noted as she pointed towards what appeared to be a slightly darker patch of haze in the summer heat of yellowed grass. "Hmm. I wonder. I need a better view of the area." The young demigoddess wondered who had the bright idea to travel into the heat of Ascending Fire. Even here in the first week it was hotter than she had seen in the Scavenger Lands. And this was supposedly nothing compared to the hellish volcanic heat of the South.

"This seems to be the tallest hillock around," Goa said as she looked around, taking a small sip of her water. It really was almost empty.

"I know of a better vantage, but I would have to carry you." At the other girl's nod, Sheila picked up the woman in dark-green armor and shot into the air.

"Raiders!" Goa blurted out as she pointed out the fairly obvious hidden formation. Their camouflage had not taken sapient flyers into consideration.

"It looks like hundreds of them," the young demigoddess noted as she quickly estimated based on density of personnel in a square area.

They had been hidden in a tight crevice that had been disguised with canvas, rocks and sand. It was only from this vantage that they could see the dozens and dozens of inhuman raiders under their bone-white armor.

Sheila twisted slightly and then shot back towards the caravan and their Fang. "Warning, raiders at twelve-hundred feet northward. At least five hundred, possibly many more."

Yachu blinked at the floating girl holding the dragonblood under her arm. "Taizei Chien-Wun, reports of an ambush."

"I heard, Yachu. Form a defensive line. Taizei Maideo Hun, move the Warstriders to the front line. I want a trench between that rock and that tree on the hill," the leader of this sub-strength Talon. "Move it! We have bloody little time."

"They must have taken out the scouts that we sent. I was wondering why they had not reported in," Yachu said with a frown even as he knocked back his straw hat to doff his helmet.

The remaining troops had started to quickly dig a trench in the dry earth under the brown grass, even as their archers started to string their bows. The warstriders were lifted to full vertical as their Chozei pilots crawled into them. By this time, the dark-red skinned raiders had noticed their sudden preparations and were starting to boil out of their hidden bolt-hole. At the front was a great red salamander that was dribbling fire from its mouth, roaring a beastial challenge.

Sheila heard the sound of metal on rock from the back, seeing four of the raider scouts skulking towards the supply carts from hidden fox holes. "Saboteurs!" she shouted even as she threw her spear to skewer two of them. The third rear attacker suddenly skidded backwards as the girl slid to a stop in front of him.

The desert raiders of the far off south hopped back ten feet and then fired his crossbow at the back of the wagons. One of the barrels of water started to leak even as Imanari breathed out a large cone of fire on the final saboteur. His lightweight clothing, designed to hold back the heat of the noon sun from over the Summer Mountains, combusted quite readily. The sickening smell of burning flesh quickly filled the air.

Lialii charged the final raider as he was reloading his crossbow. The male dragonblood sidestepped the simple shot and then stabbed out. The raider had twisted out of the way, only letting a small scratch on his arm rather than a serious wound. The raider's toe then kicked out sand into the wood-aspected's eyes and then leaned in to shove his serrated long blade deep into Lialii's stomach.

"One down," the raider said with a chuckle as he started to pull out the blade.

A small, but very strong hand clamped down like a mountain upon his grip. The sounds of bones snapping like dry twigs, filled his ears as both hands were pulped into bloody ruins. Sheila then kicked him as hard as she was capable of, her foot slamming into his stomach. The last raider flew through the air in a broken pinwheel, dead before he bounced the first of six time. "Lialii, hang on. I have to push this through."

"It's too late. I know that," the young man gasped out. "These sort of sword wounds are... fatal."

First to bolster his life force, Sheila thought even as she broke off the hilt with a crack of brittle metal. Then she very carefully pushed the broken tip out even as Lialii screamed in torment. Behind her Imanari and Gao double-teamed the horribly burned raider, finishing him off quickly and brutally.

The young demigoddess then healed his severe wound with a pulse of power. "There. Don't do any serious fighting, but you should live." Sheila stood back up as the main army of the desert raiders charged out of their caves.

Yachu shouted out, "Archers, fire! Ready spears!"

The fourteen foot tall Whispers of Ultimate Prowess warstrider clomped past the main line as it charged the war-salamander. The giant lizard screamed in agony, nearly bucking its rider off as it took the Warstrider's blow. It spat fire after the one attack, but only clipped the twenty-five foot spear of the warstrider.

The Taizei Chien-Wun narrowed his eyes. "Heavy essence cannon on the right flank." This was a far more serious attack than he had thought if they had such an Artifact to use against him. Lookshy was being severely undercharged for their services, or this was a trap to destroy part of the Legion.

The stubby barrel hummed as it charged up, then spat out a bolt of pure concussive force. Six Legionnaires were sent flying and a small gap was broken in their line.

Lookshy counter-fire shot back from their own light essence cannons in retaliation. A single fang of Lookshy gunzosha armored warriors started to tear up the left flank of the attack. The mercenaries from the South were finding a prepared army was more than they had expected.

"Goa! I'm going to make myself a very large target," Sheila shouted out to her Fang-mates.

"You aren't already?" the female dragonblood asked with a high pitched laugh. Her arrows flew through the air like thorns, growing and entangling as if alive once they hit their target.

Sheila pulled deeply upon her legend and then, with a shout, fired off eight lightning bolts from her hand. Six desert raider leaders died instantly and the essence canon was abruptly unmanned. The final figure had been knocked off his six-legged desert horse.

The cloaked figure stood back up with the grace of a panther, only to see the outnumbered Legionnaires shoring up their defenses. He started to move towards the essence cannon when a lithe figure in Nitei armor appeared out of a blurring rush. Sheila then picked up the multi-ton cannon and set it on her shoulder, then dashed back off before any of the desert raiders could even respond.

"Kill them all!" the leader of the raiders shouted in pure anger. "Puyo is for us, the true Chosen of the Blessed Martyrs! Not for lackeys of the Scavenger Lands!" His cloak had slipped, showing expensive red jade armor in the style of the Realm.

The horde responded, charging downward, heedless of the arrows winnowing their numbers. The Legion set their spears behind half dug trenches, yelling their defiance in the face of overwhelming death.

Sheila grunted as she dropped the cannon in the middle of the Legion's line as she skidded to a halt.

Yachu was laughing. "Well done! You'll get a commendation if we live through this. Let's turn their own weapon upon them." The old hero jumped to the double-handgrip, charging it with his essence. He spun the barrel on its tripod and then let loose a massive concussive force that sent four raiders spinning through the desert.

Ten foot tall mutated warbeasts roared as they tried to fight the two armored warstriders, but found themselves quite lacking as claw and fang broke on brilliant red jade armor. Giant war spears stabbed out, leaving the blue blood of the ape-like warbeasts to bleed out from fatal wounds.

Chien-Wun shaded his eyes with the gauntlet of his off hand, even as he smoothly sliced down a desert raider than had managed to close with him. "Tighten up our lines. 30th Talon, defend our supplies. 28th Fang, report!"

Yucha trotted up even as he bandaged up his right arm, wounded by an unlucky arrow hit. "We are sorely beset, but my new fang is performing far beyond expectations. One casualty, but he should later."

The ground rumbled as the earth behind the raider's line seemed to bulge upwards.

The Taizei of the Talon swore bitterly. "First an essence cannon, then war beasts that can almost match warstriders? Now they send a powerful earth elemental nearly on par with a lesser dragon? Marshal the warstriders to meet the elemental-"

That was when a cry went out as one of the scarlet war machines collapsed and was swarmed over.

"Poison spores. The pilot is as good as dead," Yucha said. "One warstrider is not going to be able to face such an elemental, though he might buy us time to retreat back to the southern rampart."

Goa fired the essence cannon at the humanoid form of earth and stone that now dwarfed the battlefield. All the cannon seemed to do was draw its attention. A massive fist lashed out, sending the front line scattering in their haste to avoid it.

Sheila was studying the figure as she flitted about the mobile, humanoid hill. Another blast from the essence cannon struck the elemental before she had found a likely weak spot. She whooshed up in a flickering blur of movement, then shoved her hand into its mouth even as she called forth her lightning, the birthright of her natural father, Zeus.

The elemental roared in pain as its insides were superheated by the inimical lightning bolt. A second bolt blasted a deeper hole into the being through its open mouth as the elemental realized it was actually in some danger.

Short spears tried to track the figure flitting through the air, but it was too fast. Most of them only hit the elemental, making it look like some strange hedgehog, though they caused no real harm.

"Goa! Shoot its left ankle," Sheila called out as she flitted by.

The young Dragonblood was not thrilled with the order, but assumed the other girl had a plan. She timed the recharged cannon just so, blasting the thick limb even as her team mate flew back and slammed into the very top of the hill. The elemental had a moment to wonder why they were sending it to tip back over onto the ground; That would not hurt it at all.

The sixty desert raiders behind it, hired on as mercenaries, faired far worse as dozens of tons of earth crushed them to paste.

Lightning flashed from Sheila's hand again, striking the elemental. It finally decided it had enough of the lightning, merging with the ground to leave the fight.

The scarlet warstrider landed from a dazzling leap, its twenty foot spear stealing the life of another dozen mercenaries even as it trod over the crushed remains of its foes. Sheila landed at a break in the left part of the Lookshy line, smashing back the desert mercenaries as she took the place of the fallen warstrider.

The near-humans scowled as each of her blows killed or maimed another of their comrades. Her most powerful strikes sent grown men flying thirty feet.

"Anathema! Lookshy must be hiding one of the betrayer-monsters!" a captain yelled out to try and rally his force. For his efforts, he was blasted by another bolt of lightning.

The young demigoddess drew on the essence of battle itself, disconcerting those facing her in melee with the implacable, perfect soldier. Her augmented presence caused one soldier to throw down his spear and long dagger. One deserter became two, then half a dozen; then finally dozens.

Chien-Wun narrowed his black eyes upon the retreating force, easily more than twice his in number. Someone had definitely tried to set a trap to kill him and his army. The canny old dragonblood was already starting to puzzle out what he would have to do when they arrived at Puyo. The cheering from his men as they realized they had dodged death by the narrowest of margins was something that put a smile upon his worried face.

He would have to think of how to investigate this matter later. For now he had an army to shore up, and press onward to his station.

* * *

The Lookshy expedition crawled towards the ancient walls of Puyo, southern jewel of the Scavenger lands. Like Nexus, it was built on the razed remains of an older city and had been occupied several times since the First Age. Its main industries were produce and cattle, growing foods and spices that were traded as far west as Nexus and east to Thorns. Its main competitor was Larsi, the trade town on the Grey River to the east. This was mostly due to the fact that Larsi put a tax upon their product to use their port, one that Puyo felt was onerous.

The local lord of Puyo was an old Dragonblood that could trace his lineage back to the Shogunate. His family had forsworn their loyalty to the Shogunate during the Contagion; The Realm had tried to reconquer Puyo (and Larsi) but had finally been driven back centuries ago by the Confederation of Rivers. That had really boiled down to Lookshy routing out the last of the Scarlet Empress' vanguard, driving them back to their holding in Thorn.

Jinga-Un styled himself a daimyo, like the old lords of the Shogunate, but was quite aware that he mustered barely half the soldiers that they had back in that venerated age. Still, he was a power in his own right and was not used to great worries like the battered remains of the Lookshy army he had hired more than six months ago to deal with raiders along the south and eastern borders of the city-state's land.

So he met the leader of the Talon himself as they put themselves into parade rest, Taizei Chien-Wun in front on his groomed stallion. His vizier and sons followed behind Jinga-Un, along with a scribe that was diligently recording the moment for history.

"Lookshy 2nd Puyo Expeditionary Talon arriving," bawled out Chien-Wun's haichi staff officer. The crack and snap of their banners fluttered in the wind for all the Scales and Fangs if they had any honors listed at all.

"Welcome champions of the rivers to humble Puyo," the captain of Jinga-Un's personal guard called out. "You look like you had an eventful march from Varsi."

The grizzled officer in charge nodded. "Taizei Chien-Wun, commanding officer. May I see to my men being barracked, and then we can discuss our interesting meeting?"

Pleasantries were exchanged and select officers were invited to the Daimyo's table for a late lunch out in the gardens. The lord of Puyo was quite surprised to see a lowly nitei attached to Chien-Wun's staff. Even if she had a bright, sun-colored hair like the people of the far north and was as pretty as many courtiers. She seemed to be adept at fitting into the stratified social setting, not making simple mistakes that would ostracize the uncouth from the halls of power of each lord.

"Chien-Wun, you did not tell of your latest companion," the irascible lord of Puyo said to his longtime acquaintance. The way he said the word 'companion' insinuated a wholly personal relationship instead of a normally professional one.

The commanding officer from Lookshy merely raised an eyebrow at him. "You are referring to Nitei Sheila?" At the nod, Chien-Wun continued. "She is merely one of my newest soldiers, though I really will have to put through her promotion as soon as possible. She is very wasted as a mere soldier."

"High praise. I thought you were the one that advocated against unseemly or purchased promotions?" Jinga-Un asked carefully. The old lord was starting to show his age, something that only the most aged of Dragonbloods did.

Chien-Wun started laughing at that. "She was quite useful in throwing back the overwhelming ambush that was sent against us." His chopsticks lashed out to pick up a bit of sticky white rice and dip it in a sour sauce.

Here the commanding officer went over the battle with the mercenaries from the southern reaches of Creation. The personal court of Jinga-Un seemed bemused until they realized he was giving them nothing but a factual report.

The daimyo of Puyo frowned as he stroked his gray-streaked beard. "So that is why your Talon was so battered looking when you arrived. This actually is quite worrying, taizei."

The officer nodded. "I suspect that we may have been called here to this location so that we could be destroyed in totality in a supposedly random occurrence. The fact that we survived is not surprising, but that we came out of it essentially intact with less than five percent casualties is likely not planned for. I suspect that whoever set this up with not be pleased." Chien-Wun brutally squashed his suspicion of the Satrapy of Thorn. Not every foe of Lookshy had the Realm behind them.

Merely most of them.

Jinha-Un nodded slowly as he considered matters. A cautious bit of essence wove through the air towards the young girl, revealing a bit of surprising information. "Nitei Sheila, I am surprised that someone of your power would consider joining as such a lowly soldier."

"Ah, I have no powerful patrons to place me in a position of leadership, so I must earn it the old fashioned way," the young demigoddess replied carefully.

"Which she already has. I have sent a missive to Lookshy with the results of our battle. If the General Staff agrees, this Nitei will soon be granted the commission of Haichei, a full two rank promotion." Chien-Wun seemed quite unconcerned about the matter.

Which would put her at the rank of a US Army sergeant, Sheila thought to herself. On the other hand, not a bad bit of work for her first deployment. "I hope to live up to your expectations, Taizei."

The daimyo of Puyo frowned as he nervously scratched his beard in thought. This girl seemed like someone that should be of high rank within the Yu-Shan.

"If I may ask, exactly how old are you, Haichei Sheila?" He would put his imprint of agreement on her promotion, something he knew the old dog of war Chien-Wun would note in his reports to Lookshy.

"Only sixteen years old, honored daimyo. I have lived here in Lookshy for almost a year since I found myself stranded here in Creation." She dipped her head slightly.

"You are from the Wyld?" one of the daimyo's eldest advisors asked. The old man looked quite papery and dried out, taking a long pull from his fragrant pipe.

"It's more complicated than that, but the easiest way to understand it is an alternate nodal reality. This world I come from has its own heavens, hells and underworlds just like Creation," she explained carefully. Now that she had a better grasp on the metaphysical geography of Creation, she felt much more confident in explaining things.

"Such things are theorized in the most esoteric of thaumaturgical essays from the First Age," the old advisor noted.

Jinga-Un was still stroking his long beard. "Mei-Ke... this is something you have heard from your studies in the arcane arts?"

The now-named Mei-Ke nodded emphatically. "Supposedly pure theory. Of course, we would have to validate the information to prove it. Like traveling to the shadow reality and then back."

"I plan on doing so, once I have become powerful enough. I may have to craft an Artifact to allow it. And that is going to require funds that I do not currently possess," Sheila explained even as she nodded in acknowledgement to the old thaumaturgist.

"Ah? You are planning to learn how to craft magical wonders?" Chien-Wun asked as he quirked the edge of his lips upward in a smile.

"I need to get better at it, yes. It would probably take me years of design work and beggar a small nation in magical materials at this point." She ignored their not-so-hidden surprise with aplomb.

"Have you heard of the Sur-Velka furs that are coming from the north? My understanding is they are of very high quality," Jinga-Un said to the commanding officer of the Lookshy forces as his way of changing the subject.

The next hour was an exercise in polite stamina. After furs, they discussed silks. Then perfumes and spices. Sheila nodded politely as plum wine, sake or beer was passed along the table as entertainers came forward. Formal poetry extolling the virtues (by rote) of the daimyo, the gods and the heavens was methodically melodically chanted. Obviously expensive, but no real heart involved in this mundane meeting with the hired mercenaries.

Sheila had become terribly bored while letting servants bring small servings of rice stuffed pheasant marinated in plum wine as a dessert. The young demigoddess expected no real trouble, but half-expected something to come up. Most likely her commanding officer would discover a clue as to their attacker; so she had been memorizing different people's features with her eidetic memory. Things that most people would not bother to memorize. After all, how many people can even see the blood vessels in someone's eyes to note their retinal pattern?

So seeing an assassin that no one else managed to perceive during his rush to attack was a bit of an outside chance even for her. The blonde demigoddess surged out of her seat to block the poisoned jade dagger to Jinga-Un's throat with her greave, resulting in a shocking loud metallic clang.

Everyone in the gardens froze as they suddenly realized Sheila was not attacking their daimyo, but blocking a deadly assassin. Including the assassin, who was only leaping away on his planned escape purely on training. Chien-Wun surged to his feet, shouting out, "Alive!"

The assassin sneered over his shoulder, even as he took haste to depart faster than almost any being could hope to match. It was a bit obvious as he left a burning trail behind him as as he fled at nearly fifty miles per hour. In fifteen seconds he had already escaped the castle of the daimyo, and was through the first door that slammed behind him with a simple triggered spring-loaded latch. The puddles of water outside would mask his trail for a few crucial seconds.

Said door exploded as Sheila hit it with her shoulder, causing the dragon-blooded assassin to speed up instead of slowing down like he had planned. No non-exalted should have been able to keep up.

Essence burned in his body as a swirling aura of air appeared around the assassin, his body instinctively turned the center of his torso into a small explosion of mist and air that swirled back after Sheila's open-handed slap actually passed through his body.

"Gods in Yu-Shan above, girl!? What are you?" the assassin griped as he dove down a narrow hole in the basement between barrels filled with volatile naphtha. His landing triggered another mechanism that attempted to close the reinforced wooden trap-door now above him.

He was not surprised this time (as he kept running on flaming footprints) that the door just shattered as the blonde haired girl wearing silver armor kept right up with him.

"You are really annoying, you know that," the young demigoddess noted aloud as her next punch passed through his head as it turned to a swirling air-mist.

The small house above exploded as the assassin's Bellow-Pumping Stride ignited the highly flammable oil behind them. He was leading her through the sewer system to a damaged well that went down another thirty feet for water.

This was getting just ridiculous, in the Grass Spider's consideration. He dashed up the stone wall as his swirling air anima flared even higher.

Sheila flickered past him, out of the well and into the middle of plaza about two thousand feet away from the castle; quite near the eastern gate. An old woman fell down, shattering the clay vase that she was about to fill at the well.

"Pardon me, ma'am," Sheila said politely as she gripped the molded stone base of the well, ripping it up as the assassin streaked out. "Got you, bastard."

Denu of the Grass Spiders tried his best to dodge, but he was unable to shape his whole body into misty air, so the uprooted well slammed into him with full force. His anima flared even higher as his essence strove to save his life, but not even Earth Protection Form did more than slightly blunt the attack as he was smashed into unconsciousness.

Screams erupted as the normal mortals realized that some fight or attack had just happened.

"Oh, good. He's still alive," the young demigoddess muttered to herself. She started to dig him out of the rubble with one hand even as she started to divest him of daggers, needles, vials and other bits of nastiness.

"What are you doing?" a querulous voice demanded. The young town guard looked ready to faint, mess his pants or flee at a moments notice.

"Capturing this assassin. He just attempted to kill the daimyo and my commanding officer ordered him taken alive," she replied in an even, soothing tone. From a pouch at her hip she pulled out some kevlar zip-ties to quickly bind him up. With a pat, she turned most of his grievous wounds to just bruises. "Let's get him back to the castle so that he can be interrogated.

* * *

Jinga-Un was still stroking his beard despite his self-admonishment. The young girl had easily captured the attacker, the notorious Grass Spider assassin Denu the Dastardly. Now thoroughly trussed up to a heavy wooden chair and only wearing a new loincloth, the daimyo awaited his awakening in the cramped dungeons of his castle. "Such a sordid affair."

Chien-Wun looked over, giving him a faint smile. "This is definitely an exciting one, at least. I had thought this would be a simple and boring garrison duty. Perhaps some bandit hunting on the side. But we appear to up to our necks in it."

"I saw you send orders and a report to Lookshy. How soon do you expect a response?" the daimyo asked curiously.

"That will depend upon what we discover from Denu here," the taizei of the Lookshy forces admitted. He gestured over towards Sheila who was watching the healers closely. "I hope you don't mind that I kept my soldier here?"

"Not even slightly, though I am impressed that she was able capture such a noted assassin. Not only is he a Grass Spider, but he himself has a reputation of never failing to kill his target with his poisoned daggers," Jinga-Un said even as he still continued to stroke his beard. That had been far too close a scare.

Denu the Dastardly, bastard son from the One Hundred Kingdoms swam back to consciousness as his whole body throbbed. He cracked his left eye open just a little bit. Captured and bound in a dungeon. His day was not looking too good.

"He's awake," Sheila announced for everyone as she saw him peeking a glance.

"Administer the poison," Jinga-Un ordered. "Good afternoon, Denu. We are giving you a very small dose of River Dragon venom. Not even enough to do more than make your head swim. But for each lie you speak, another dose will be administered." Using poison on someone that used such vile means either worked exceedingly well, or was ignored entirely.

The assassin tried to fight them forcing the vile brew down his throat, but he was essentially helpless. As a few drops of poison dribbled down his chin, he finally spoke. "You do not expect to betray my guild and my contract, do you?" The air-aspected dragon blood seemed one step shy of insane with his glittering sky-blue eyes under his pale white hair.

"Your ultimate fate is already determined. You will die." Jinga-Un's voice carried a deeper, heavier weight as he let his own essence to his imposing stature. "How you die is still yours to decide. Give me the information I desire and your last years will not be as if pokers of pure pain are inserted into your limbs while you scream yourself hoarse. You can choose the bliss of a painless release from your tormented life or a pain-filled leave giving that will become the heart of an epic saga."

Dredged Murmurs Hunch and Revelations of Associates Hunch burned into the air and earth as he bore down upon the assassin with his essence. Only hints to his conspirators here in Puyo were seen. A shopkeeper and a few assistants in setting up his escape path.

"They hired the Grass Spiders anonymously," Denu said in a dull, angry tone through the pain of his severe bruises of his half-healed wounds.

Truth, the daimyo thought to himself.

"While they did not say, I think he suspects who hired him. I don't think he would trust anyone without trying to verify who was hiring for such a high profile target," Sheila said as her legend increased her supernatural perception, making even lies of omission stand out a bit with her uncanny insight.

Chien-Wun's dark-black eyes widened ever so slightly. "Truly? Then again, your senses are supernatural in clarity." Her old commanding officer had noted that from her first day.

The assassin glared at her. "Speak your name girl, so I may know who undid me so profoundly."

"Sheila, daughter of Pallas Athena and Nitei of Lookshy's 4th Field Force," she replied with alacrity, seemingly uncaring of identifying herself.

"She is correct. Attacking the head of a city-state... this is not something the Grass Spiders do without verifying who is behind it. We do not wish to become embroiled as a scapegoat by the Infernal or Wyld. Such a thing could set the entire Scavenger Lands against us." The prisoner glared at the demigoddess, committing her name and appearance to memory. It was possible that he would be able to slip a message out, even if he could not escape. "We were never told, but we believe that Thorns and their Realm masters are behind this attack."

The city-state of Thorns, lackey and satraps of the ever-present threat of The Realm, was no surprise as a possible instigator. The Scarlet Empress had long coveted the West and its rich resources. Long ago, before the Contagion,[2] the Shogunate had controlled nearly all of Creation from the icy North to the fire-blasted South, across the far Eastern ocean and the West to the elemental pole of Wood. Not only two years before in the Realm Year 754, Thorns had been devastated after their failed attack against Lookshy, Nexus and the Confederacy of the Rivers. Only Three Forks had taken serious losses, having to rebuild their entire light infantry.

"Let us have some names of who you investigated," Jinga-Un ordered in a very cold voice. Puyo had bled as part of the Confederacy of Rivers.

Chien-Wun nodded grimly, as the entire affair had become exceedingly complicated and dangerous.

[1] Fang, Scale, Talon, Wing are all military groupings within Lookshy and the Realm militaries. Similar to Fire Team, Squad, Company, Platoon in the US Military.

[2] The Contagion was an attack by the Deathlords and their masters the Neverborn that wiped out most life in Creation hundreds of years ago.


	2. Fitting in

**Chapter 5: Her First Calibration.**

"Calibration? That's the end of the year, isn't it?" Sheila asked her fellow officer Goa. Both had been advanced to the rank of Haichei due to their 'advanced skills' although they were only in charge of a fang of five soldiers each.

Goa tied her dark-green hair back into a messy-seeming pile on the back of her head and then jabbed two hair-sticks through it in order to hold it in place. "Now I know you aren't from Creation like you said. Calibration is where everything is off and it is considered a time of bad luck. Luna and the stars are absent from the heavens and no one travels. For the most part, it is an excuse to have feasts and meet with friends while we greet the new year in six days."

"How is your training in your warstrider?" the young demigoddess asked curiously.

"Tiring. Mostly it is a matter of getting on my repair crew to make sure it is in top condition." The young dragonblood was not happy with that, nor with the expense reports she had to file for the supplies.

The 2nd Puyo Expedition of Lookshy was currently barracked in a set of buildings just inside the west gates, easily within range to reinforce them if need be. Chien-Wun was sending missives back and forth to Lookshy as he and his superiors carefully weighed how they would respond to the attack from Thorns.

It had been just over two years ago that Thorns, backed by the Realm, had attempted to conquer Lookshy. They had even laid siege to the fortress city for days, but in the end when Nexus, Three Forks and other Confederacy forces had arrived, they had been forced to flee back to their own borders. Peace had returned, but no treaty had been signed.

Essentially, Lookshy was still at war with Thorns (and by proxy, The Realm) since that point. The attack upon Chien-Wun's command had all the earmarks of yet another skirmish and plot. Thorns obviously wanted to slowly weaken Lookshy.

But, as they said, that was 'above her pay-grade.' Sheila was only a lowly officer at this point.

* * *

Everything felt off, the young demigoddess found after the sun set in the west. All of the stars faded away and Luna fled over the rooftops of Puyo and down over the horizon. Sheila put black-steel sword Hadecleus upon her hip this evening, so she could keep it at hand.

Supposedly ghosts and other spirits came out during this 'Calibration' so it was wise to be able to see them. While the ability to see ghosts was not a normal part of her powers, she had managed to figure out how to see them in a fashion as long as she held the sword of Alexander, the son of Hades.

She nodded as she stepped out the small gate of the walled compound that the Lookshy talons were stationed at. The short, curved road led to the closed gates with their keen guards.

"Hate seeing the stars do that, I do," a swarthy officer of Puyo said as he stepped slightly closer to the lantern hanging on a pole by the heavy wood and steel barricade.

Sheila nodded to a ghost in passing, getting a surprised look from the dead man. She started walking a quick perimeter of the area, greeting the unlucky soldiers that had to work in the creepy atmosphere. The totally black sky did not have a single light source, so might as well have been solid rock.

Even the lamps and torches seemed dimmed and muted. She could believe that no one would attempt serious magic unless they meant mischief. The only spells known to specifically be planned for use in these five days was the summoning of the yozi; demons. Certain of their demonic summoning spells could last a whole year if enacted on any of the nights of Calibration or some of the most powerful could be called. She wondered what that meant to the way this reality functioned.

Because of that, their orders while on patrol were to keep an eye out for anything 'odd' and assist the city guard. Odd could mean many things; curdling milk, freezing water, wind chimes ringing without any breeze, animals acting odd or attacking thin air. Sheila actually thought that a smart sorcerer would actually just head into the wilderness. Less potential witnesses.

Of course the wilderness had its own dangers. And in times past, sorcerers would actually be required to attend parties specifically to keep them from summoning such inimical entities.

Laughter drifted out of a bar as the door opened for a moment, letting a late party goers enter into the well lit interior. The laughter and music was a bit enticing, but she was far too wound up.

Sheila crouched and then leaped fifty feet to a rooftop without making a sound. She bent her ears to listen for anything unusual and sniffed carefully as she moved along. Hopefully her questions on what the reagents for all those diabolic summonings did not make him think that she wanted to dabble in those dark arts.

Most of the buildings in Puyo were fairly flat in slope and with colorful clay shingles. They varied from two to three stories mostly in a meld of European and Asian form, though older building were sometimes greater towers that rose dozens of levels. Pale echoes of the First Age.

She paused a moment, the hint of burning incense wafting through the strangely charged air. She was a silent rush in the air, quickly narrowing it down to a opulent manor with several guards and hounds out, eating while watching out for thieves.

Sheila did not head for the nearest guard post, but the second closest one. If she were a noble, she would have bribed (or drugged) the nearest of the towns City Watch. She landed from a leap off a roof just outside their view and started to walk up. "Hello the guard. I bring news."

"Come forward," the older man with a scruffy face (and a three day old beard) called out. "What are you doing out after night during Calibration?" His tone was quite accusing.

"Haichei Sheila of the 7th Legion, attached to the defense of Puyo. We were given orders to keep an 'eye' out for anything unusual. And I think I may have discovered someone burning purple jasmine incense and filgorian toadstools."

"Ah, damnation of the Sun upon them," the old soldier said. "Are you sure?" His men were starting to stand up and ready their weapons. "Someone is summoning a demon tonight? They usually at least wait until the second night." Always someone wanting a slave for the whole year.

He quickly lit the signal fire and angled the mirrors towards the main barracks while slipping the green lense into place. He turned to a young page, nodding to him seriously.

The young boy nodded back, looking quite serious and worried.

The rest of the city guards were quickly gathered and formed up, their sergeant eyeing them and reprimanding them for any laxness like loose armor. His six men followed him until they realized they were turning left up to the more posh neighborhood.

"Haichei Tumu, this is out of our district," one of them noted.

Tumu snickered to himself. "Well then we haven't been paid a bribe to ignore anything this evening up here, so I guess that's their tough luck."

A dog started barking in the night as the officer led them up to the indicated gate while Sheila faded into the background.

"Open up in the name of the daimyo! We have a suspicion of illegal magics being enacted upon this land!" the officer of the Puyo city guard called out.

The four private guards on the other side of the iron wrought gate shared a quick look among them. "We'll have to summon the head butler." One of the guards then started to walk up to the gate at a normal, sedate pace.

"Damnation. They are trying to stall," Tumu said as he looked between his men and the sturdy gate. He was obviously weighing if they could break it down.

"May I assist you, haichei?" Sheila offered casually as she stepped out of the shadows.

Tumu shrugged, then blinked as the lanky girl gave a sharp tug on the gates, ripping them out of the stone wall moorings. "By Yu-Shan's foundation!"

"God-blooded," she explained even as she set the gate off to the side. She then glared at the three guards and their snapping, barking dogs. "I do suggest you not try to stop us."

One of the guards, a young and rat-faced looking fellow nodded. "Not at all, as long as you don't mind us wandering over to the nearest feast hall as you head up to the house?"

"Run, dogs," the haichei of the city guard snapped out even as he readied his grip on his trusty spear. With that he led his men up the path to the manor.

* * *

Kimo-Wo was prostrate before the (un)holy altar of his patron, a third circle demon The Misconstrued Councilor. So the door opening as his father's head butler interrupting the portly merchant prince was quite unexpected. All of the cultists looked up at their collaborator, fear suddenly in their hearts.

"The city guard is here accusing you of profane magic!" the old man said from the doorway, his eyes wide in fright. He tried very hard to not look at the heretical black stone and blood red drapes along with scattered green flame candles around a summoning circle for the beckoning.

The cultist's face paled dramatically, a strange feat for the tanned man. "Ruined. My enemies must have heard a whisper and betrayed me to the guard. What to do? What to do?"

"Should we flee, master?" They would be beheaded, their ashes scattered among the offal of the tanning district for their heresy.

"That won't work, the city gates are closed. My little thaumaturgy won't stop a serious effort." Kimo-Wo winced as he heard the front door smash and then the clash of metal on metal in the distance as the remaining house guards fought. "No chance. No chance." He beady dark-brown eyes were drawn to the set of bone dice that was part of the demon's panoply and remembered something from a dusty scroll from years ago. He scrambled forward and snatched the dice and looked over at his cult.

Would the beautiful Kimi be close enough? She had Fae-Blooded, but is that near enough to a Fair Folk? With sudden decisiveness, he rolled the dice. Even he would flee and odd he would gamble on everything.

One and six pips appeared. "Girl, unbind your hair. We need its ribbon for a very desperate marriage of hope and chance," he ordered in a strained voice. "Maju, old friend, officiate the fasted wedding of your life."

The almost too-pretty girl nodded as she unbound her hair. "This sounds interesting at least."

Their hands were bound together even as the old butler went through the liturgy of a simple peasant wedding.

Kimo-Wo closed his eyes and then tossed the dice into the air towards the altar.

"Oh, I think I like you," a woman said as she snagged the dice as she appeared in a sparkle of rust and aquamarine, each color matching one of her eyes.. "Cheating, lying and throwing it all on the roll of your dice." She was lavishly dressed in velvet and silk brocade in a pirate shirt, vest and tight pants with a saber sheathed at her hip like some river pirate preening for the public.

"Fortune's Fool, I apologize for my unseeming calling," the merchant diabolist said as he bowed. "But I am undone and wish to at least vex my opponents. If I can escape in the confusion, all the better."

The clash of fighting had reached the bottom of the stairs even as Janequin, the Fortune's Fool set her plumed hat upon her head after waving it jauntily at the cultists. She reared back and then with her dainty booted foot kicked out the door open dramatically. She started whistling a discordant tune as if it were just the perfect time to take a walk in the park. A solid gold statue in a small alcove disappeared into her vest pouch with a flick of her wrist as she walked down the dimly lit hall.

Sheila pulled the Hadecleus from the stomach of one of the last guards, seeing a gaudily dressed up figure in rich reds and blue at the top of the stairs. The mismatched eyes met her blue-green ones and the woman smiled wildly at her.

_The clang of torment on Brass under a Green Sun_ drifted down to her on mystical scents. That actually caused the young demigoddess to blink.

"Demon. Roughly as powerful as I am," the young demigoddess called out in warning. "Do not engage unless you want to die."

"You have a high opinion to think you can match a demon of the Second Circle," the swashbuckler replied with a smirk on her lips. With a quick hop up onto the banister she dove over the edge, flipped three times to land with an ease and grace of a gymnast. Behind her through the main hall's closed doors, she heard the murmur of a party over the wafting sound of song and dance.

Tumu groaned in fear. All he knew of the Second Circle is they were quite a bit more powerful than most of the normal demons. They usually even had names and commanded armies, spies and assassins among Creation.

"Head up the stairs to arrest the sorcerer. I'll deal with the demon," the young demigoddess said as she moved to place herself between them and the demon.

Both of them leaped into the air, swords whirling into a chaotic cacophony of stabs, chops, blocks, riposte and counters all within a second until the both stood casually upon the railing of the stairs. Janequin frowned as she realized they were nearly equal in pure skill, but the girl in front of her moved with far more than even her superhuman dexterity.

Sheila took one extra step to drop onto the stairs even as the city guards ran past her as she fought defensively, her black-steel sword becoming a near wall of sweeps, parries and blocks from Janequin's shining silver sword.

"You are really annoying," the demon said with a cute pout on her lips as her arm sped up a ridiculous amount and started sending a random flurry of attacks at the thin girl in front of her. Her supernal-colored miss-matched eyes actually blinked as her _Divine Melee Subordination_ still failed to get through, though the girl was forced back a step.

"What was that?" Sheila asked as she forced her arms to move as fast as any scion could react to defend herself even while giving ground.

"Purity of essence in combat. The fact that you did not know... Now that is surprising. Hmm-hmm." Janequin started to hum a little ditty as the demoness started to really consider the matter. Perhaps a bit of this and a bit of that. "So have you ever heard about the story of the river pirate gambler and his neomah concubine?"

"What?" Sheila asked in confusion.

The demoness's speed and purity of her mastery of swordsmanship thundered with a large surge of essence; random, chaotic and from seeming every direction. Janequin really put everything into it as she not only subordinated her skill, she filled it with excellence as if she were facing one of the god of war of the primary terrestrial compass points. (Well, how she thought she might face one of them, as she had never actually fought one.)

So the fact that she barely cut the girl's cheek was, to say the least, a bit disconcerting.

"Well, that's working _ever _so wonderfully. Just who the _hell_ are you, young woman?" The demoness decided to try a different tack, dropping back over the balcony with a backflip and then opened a door in a blur of motion into the main dining hall where the Calibration party was actually going on.

"Hello everyone! I'm going to kill every single one of you unless you defend yourself!" She kicked the door closed behind her and slid the bolt closed even as she finished speaking, her voice inciting a maddening and recklessness in all of the party goers. All of the stunned partiers shared a quick glance, then charged as they grabbed random implements for attack.

The six inch thick door shattered like it was made of balsa wood as Sheila caught up. "Quit running away, demoness," the girl demanded.

Janequin was sword-dancing like a master of swashbuckling in the middle of the near riot going on. "That was fast. I bet she kills more of you than I do," she sang out bawdily. "Ooh! Is that a blueberry wine?" She snagged a cup to take a quick sip even as she stabbed an overly dressed matronly woman with a knife.

"You must be some chaos demon," the demigoddess said even as she hopped over most of the crowd. She stabbed at Janequin's sparkly rust-colored eye while kicking a young man before he could try to stab her with a saber.

"That's true! I'm Fortune's Fool! So, shall we have a wager as I confound and confuse you?" the demoness asked as she killed two more partiers. "I can kill more of these people than you can save. I'm already up six!"

"Isn't that something any lout with an axe can do?" the demigoddess asked even as she engaged the demoness again starting with a thrust at her belly. "Of course, these people are such huge threats to you that I'm sure you have to kill them over someone really dangerous. Like myself." In fact, Sheila was fighting the urge to throw herself into the battle heedless of any consequence, which certainly did not feel like her normal self.

"Are you trying to make me angry?" Janequin asked right back, even as her sword started to beat the pattern to a popular song and dance.

"No duh." Sheila hopped on top of the feast table, not even knocking over a glass or napkin as if she was lighter than a feather. With the higher ground, she won back some of the advantage that her foe had with her skill in fighting in the chaos. She was hopping over almost all of the attacks from the civilians, though an occasional dagger would scratch her leg. Her foe kept pulling out crazy, nonsensical and impossible blocks that were obviously essence empowered.

Janequin had a loopy grin on her features that looked eerily like one of the Fair Folk. She winked her aquamarine eye and leaped up on the table, matching her as they sword-danced back and forth across the feast table in twin blurs of blades; black versus silver. Inwardly she was impressed that the girl's anima had not flared, as this was far beyond what a even most dragonbloods could have hoped to do.

It was not Sheila's anima, but her deep connection to War itself as she imposed the coldly professional _deadly_ soldier upon her invisible aura. Suddenly all the crazed partiers around her suddenly found the will to pull back from the incredible almost tangible danger in front of them.

"Ah, you're messing up my chaos," Janequin complained as she pulled back. She was now bored with what they had been doing. The swashbuckling demoness charged across the table, leaped up into the air to grab a chandelier and then swung out through a glazed window. She landed in the dark gloom, right in between two poisonous rose bushes. "Change of venue time!"

So the lightning bolt out of the black sky was a very unpleasant and random surprise. The clap of thunder was still echoing as the scorched figure stumbled across the grass to put out her brocade vest and pirate-shirt. "Ouch-ouch-ouch! What was that?"

"That's far enough. Now that we are outside, I don't have to hold back," Sheila said in a strong, commanding voice as she followed out the window. Between one moment and another, she instantly passed the demon that was sixty feet away at the gate to block its way out.

Janequin tapped the side of her saber to her cheek as she really studied the girl. No spirit glyph on her forehead... "That really is surprising. I guess it had to happen some time that I'd run into a nasty war god (or goddess). I can usually muddle my way through, but this is getting tedious." She stuck out her tongue and then dematerialized in preparation to flee.

So the black sword that struck her immaterial form was pure, surprising agony.

"You are not getting away," the demigoddess said even as she kept up with the fleeing miasma of evil as it fled over the wall and across the rooftops. Unbeknown to her, essence churned in the air and at her feet as she slightly twisted time and then reached out with one hand, grabbing the soul of the demoness. Creation groaned at the unusual imposition.

Fortune's Fool was not one to regularly be surprised, but this was something she had only run into once in the last millenium. 'Mercy!' she begged, not nearly proud enough to die if she could help it.

In Noble Sky Square of Puyo, the Second Circle Demon Janequin, Fortune's Fool, had the sword of a death demigod slam home, permanently dispersing her tainted essence into the ground and sky at midnight of Calibration of the Realm Year 756.

* * *

Aptorius, city god of Puyo, watched over the rising sun on the 14th day of the new year from his pagoda temple on top of the main civil heart of his domain. The god sighed as he settled his gold and grass robes of office about his body.

Summer was now over and soon the short season of Fall (in fact, it would only take one month for the temperature drop to the long spring levels as rain started to be more common). He had arrived back from Yu-Shan from his visit there during Calibration as he had been lucky to earn the privilege to attend several parties.

A Yu-Shan that was already making noises to send someone to investigate the demon that had been summoned into _his_ city. In all likelihood, he would be forced to undergo an Audit of Heaven. Aptorius rubbed his bald head, wondering if they would discover his minor indiscretions dealing with Bull God of the South. Puyo was home to many herds of cattle due to the fertile grasslands. They had been trading favors back and forth, even though they were in different directions of domain. It skirted some rules.

Minu-Saro, minor god of the college of magic Iupitias, approached on his spinning top that he rode like a horse. "Aptorius," he called out politely as he bowed.

"Old friend, what have you discovered of the events that happened while we were away in heaven?" The city-god took a pull from his pipe and blew a ring that changed color several times.

"It was not an Anathema, but a god-blood. A mortal child of a god," the sorcerer-god said. He tugged fitfully at his braid with its seventy-two knots of mysteries. "I looked upon her from a distance at the barracks that hold her and her Lookshy comrades. Her power is far in excess of any god-blood I have ever heard of."

"She is more powerful than you, I take it?" Aptorius asked curiously as he idly played with his smoke-ring. "Are you sure she is not of that group in heaven?"

A new voice interrupted, muffled and echoing from under a full helm. "She does not follow the Five Sisters nor Luna."

Both gods looked over to see a figure standing up and out of a shadow that seemed far too small to have hidden himself within.

"Not one of yours? Or any exalted?" Minu-Saro asked. "Only the Exalted are usually so potent with being of the mortal world." Heroic mortals and god-bloods could only reach those heights with the death of their mortality and ascending into the ranks of gods.

"She is unknown, outside the Tapestry and Fate. What have you learned of this Sheila?" the armored figure asked.

"Who are you to ask?" Aptorius asked as his smoke-ring dissipated.

The warrior looked at them for a while, then nodded. "A fair question. Call me Crimson Banner Executioner on behalf of the Convention of Wood. As always, we investigate powerful users of essence."

Both Terrestrial gods knew little of the Sidereal other than that they had hidden themselves after the Usurpation. But this group oversaw the East for the old Viziers.

Minu-Saro nodded finally. "She claims to be from far beyond knowledge, outside of Creation, Heaven, Hell or even the Wyld. In her reality, she is the young daughter of a war goddess."

"Young? But has joined Lookshy," Crimson muttered to himself. "So she is more than a god-blood, but less than a god."

"Yes, more a demigoddess, like the Exalted are sometimes referred to," Aptorius said. The city-god had a sly look upon his face. "I have gleaned something from a wayward elemental that had chanced to be in the dark air above Puyo on the first night of Calibration. The demon that she slayed was known as Fortune's Fool or sometimes as Janequin."

"Not some First Circle lackey," the Sidereal of Battles noted carefully.

"Correct, young Chosen of Fate. A Second Circle Demon. Not a light foe at all." The city-god was weighing the favors that he could extract.

The other god frowned as he considered matters. "She does not really hide herself and it was easy to find out this from her fellow soldiers. She has recently been promoted for battle valor. They say this is her first deployment after joining the 7th Legion. She has a fearsome intelligence."

Aptorius nodded even as he floated down to the ground. "I wish to speak with this soldier that helped protect my city. It is only proper to give thanks to the helpful." A slight snub to the Sidereal.

Crimson Banner Executioner narrowed his eyes behind his helm before he departed a different way to shadow the two gods.

The people of Puyo were surprised to see the two gods walking down the roads of their city on a non-festival day. Mino-Saro leaned close to whisper into his friend's ear. "You play a dangerous game."

"Not at all. I am merely giving the Chosen a subtle notice of my continuing displeasure of their past actions," Aptorius said in a calm, even tone.

Street urchins pointed at the odd pair, as they had only seen a few of the 'small gods' much less the gold and green magnificence of their city-god nor the odd sorcerer that rode a flying, spinning top in a leisurely way.

Aptorius looked upon the barracks that the Lookshy army had been given over to. The silver armored soldiers were practicing their formations and attacks. The guards at the entrance bowed their heads in respect and did not stop them.

Goa was sparring in one of the two warstriders and did not let herself be distracted. Her magitech-mecha armor slammed its daiklave home hard, staggering her distracted opponent even through the layers of leather padding on the sword. The bright-red warstrider then lowered its shoulder and charged forward. There was a massive clang of armored jade upon jade and her foe dropped her spear.

"I think I win, Duro," she called out, holding the bright red (and quite huge) sword to the downed warstrider.

"Yes, you got me." Duro was a good fellow and long time soldier. Already he could see that the young dragonblood would surpass him.

"I think you owe me a spar then, Haichei Sheila," Goa called out in a ribald manner. "Sir."

The city-god of Puyo leaned on his staff of office as his ancient, immortal eyes studied the lanky girl. "Mino-Saro, what do you sense?"

The sorcerer little-god frowned as he watched the different groups. "She carries a heavy weight upon the land." He started to trace his hands up the knots of tied up hair in agitation.

The young demigoddess was watching them out of the corner of her eyes even as she pulled out her practice sword of heavy, dulled metal. "Well, you are the one that insisted."

Goa just shouted a kai of attack as she lashed out with her warstrider's gigantic sword, only to see the girl in front of her hop over the low sweep as if it were just a skip-jumping rope. Her downward chop jarred into the ground with a massive thud.

Sheila then charged into the swing, cutting almost half of its momentum down with her new position as she parried the ten foot blade. The warstrider was thrown out of its steady footing even as an ankle kick removed her primary weight-bearing foot out from under her. With a crash, the scarlet jade warstrider thundered to the ground.

The young dragonblood found a sword inset through her warstrider's grill and within inches of her face. "Damn it. You got me again." She was just too fast for her to keep up with.

"Let's get you back to the warstrider armory." Sheila pulled the sword out from the grill and with a flick of her wrist, set it whirling through the air to slam into its weapon stand on the edge of the practice field. She then hopped to the ground and helped the much larger figure to its feet, contrary to the normal laws of physics (as she was much smaller and lighter.)

That was when Aptorius and Mino-Saro walked over from the sidelines where they had been watching. Goa stood up her warstrider and then tromped it off to the tall buildings.

"Haichei Sheila, the god-blooded that defeated the demon during calibration," Aptorias said as an introduction. "I am the city god of Puyo, sometimes known as Aptorias of the Grasslands and Shepherd of the East."

"Well met." This did not make much sense to Sheila's incredible senses, but this god of the East of Creation (a woody smell along with the sound of growth among nature) seemed like yet another lesser god in the similar vein as a powerful nature spirit of Japanese mythology. She bowed her head slightly.

"And I am Mino-Saro, small god of the college of magic known as Iupitias. A sorcerer and patron of magics," the other, shorter, god said in introduction.

Sheila nodded her head again. "How may I be of assistance?"

"Explain the situation which you found yourself in and how you became involved? We expect an inquiry from the Bureaucracy of Heaven over the death of the Second Circle Demon known as Fortune's Fool. The fact that it was allowed to be in Creation and not bound to their hell in Malfeas is disturbing, but its death will worry those of its slayer's power."

"It was noted in my briefing for the Calibration celebration that our services as soldiers may be called upon to deal with sorcerers that would try to get past the prohibition of summoning. As it is not a holiday that is celebrated in my reality, I decided to take it upon myself to do a patrol of the city for demon summoners." Sheila had dropped into a parade-rest stance as she factually gave her report. "Just after sunset, I detected the scent of an incense only used in demon summoning. I quickly contacted some of the city guard and we approached the merchant's home and demanded entrance."

"Were you aware of the demon's entrance and sought to confront her in particular?" Mino-Saro asked intently as he continued to play with the knotted braid of hair down the side of his head.

"No, in fact we should have been early enough to disrupt any summoning safely. The infernalist appeared to enact a foolish beckoning as a last moment attempt to save his own life and sow confusion among his enemies. That is when the demon appeared at the top of the stairs. I could immediately tell that she far outstripped any mortal in power. I engaged her in combat to keep her from the guards while they tried to arrest the diabolist. When Fortune's Fool attempted to flee I caught her and then struck her down."

The two gods looked at her in honest horror at what she described.

The city-god of Puyo started to rub his forehead as if in pain. "They will call us to Yu-Shan to hear this. You are sure you are no god? Nor Anathema?" This was far outside of Aptorius's control now, he realized.

"I suppose they can make a request to my commanding officer," Sheila replied even as she nodded herself. This could be interesting to see their version of the Overworld.

"Let us seek out your commanding officer then," the minor god of sorcery said finally.

They walked around the fifty soldiers as they trained in the open field area. Sheila knocked on the stout wooden door. "Haichei Sheila and the gods Aptorius and Mino-Saro to see the commanding officer," she called out loudly.

"Enter," came the response immediately.

The doorway led them to a large office with a table covered in scrolls and maps. Chien-Wun looed up from where he was going over reports. His dark eyes narrowed at the sight of the demigoddess followed by two Terrestrial divinites. "Be welcome. How may I assist you?" His tone was not very friendly no matter the words he used.

"We wish to request that Haichei Sheila be available in case we are called to Yu-Shan to testify on the... incident. She mentioned that we would have to request this of you, her commanding officer," the ancient city-god said blandly to the usurper in front of him.

The older dragonblood officer nodded slowly. "I see. I will take that under advisement and put your request up the chain of command to the General Staff."

Aptorius nodded sagely. "Oh, and Haichei Sheila? I may have a test for you to perform. Just consider it a whim of a request from an old god."

Sheila nodded carefully. "I think my next free day is Venusday. Where may I seek you on that day?"

"I shall be watching over the daimyo that day," the city-god replied.

Chien-Wun waited until the gods disappeared, then looked over at the young officer. "Is this going to be a problem, haichei?"

The young demigoddess shook her head. "Not that I'm aware. The death of a Second Circle Demon is fairly 'big news' I guess."

"Yes, not many people have the power to destroy a being on par with the upper ranks of Yu-Shan." Of course, it raised all sorts of possibilities here. "How would you rank your power in comparison to the city-god Aptorius or his companion?"

"A bit more powerful, taizei. Mino-Saro is a sorcerer, so is probably capable of vexing me from beyond sight in some ways. I would hope it does not come down to any sort of confrontation, as we are here as allies to Puyo," she replied carefully.

"A good answer." His dark brown eyes studied her, then dismissed her with a quick glance to the door.

* * *

Sheila nodded in passing to the Puyo guards at the entrance to the castle. Like most 'fortresses' in the Scavenger Land, they were roughly based on a more fantasy Japanese model rather than a European model. So there was a set of stairs that led to the main entrance about thirty feet up from the level ground.

This castle was more rounded than most she had seen and of course did not have any interior courtyards. A young page with a shaved head was guiding her through the castle in what appeared to be a random manner, but was designed to confuse visitors.

"Ah, City-God of Puyo, it is good to see you again," Sheila said to the air next to an open door.

Aptorius nodded in greeting. "If you can please follow me? We are going to a site for your eyes only."

"Uh, miss? Are you seeing things?" the eight year old boy asked in confusion.

"Aptorius is here and will guide me the rest of the way. He wishes to guide me on my own." Sheila gave him a small smile that eased his young worry.

"Begging your pardon, miss, but I've been ordered to follow you as best I can," the young boy said seriously.

Sheila looked over at the city-god, but he was ignoring the young child.

The green and gold garbed Terrestrial god led them down a different passage, heading downward. This set of stairs led to another past several solid looking doors. Finally they came to an open, circular vertical tunnel.

The young page was shaking horribly. He suddenly bolted as he was taken by a powerful fear. He knew what was down at the end of that passageway.

"Interesting. Would you consider yourself fearless?" the city-god asked.

"Not really. I'd like to think I am brave. But fearless is foolish." Blue-green studied the immaterial being.

Aptorius nodded as if it answered a question only he had thought to ask. He stepped into the shaft and then disappeared downward. The young demigoddess in her silvery-bright breastplate followed, landing on the ground a hundred feet down with a light thump.

"Was that faith? Trust?" Aptorius muttered to himself.

"Neither. I knew where the bottom was and I can easily make that distance." Sheila hoped this was not the test, as this was sort of lame.

That seemed to surprise the old god and a laugh. He held out a hand towards a wall. "We must go this way. Unfortunately, I may not open the passageway."

The young girl studied the way for a minute, then pulled out a hidden, round column from the wall and started to play with the crystals and orichalcum fitting beyond the cover of stone. "I'm glad I've been studying a bit of how warstriders and other magitech work."

A door rumbles open, leading to another path.

"It is a useful skill, even in this poor, benighted age of minor miracles. Ah, to have the wonders of the First Age in the city. It truly was a wonder," Aptorius said with a soft smile of remembrance on his face.

They traveled for another ten minutes before the old god spoke again under the dim light of glowing blue crystals.

"How old are you child? I can sense you are younger than most see, as you are fairly tall." His green eyes studied her as she answered.

"Physically, I am eleven years old. Which somehow matches your years, even though you have three extra months and your days are twenty-five hours long. I stopped aging a few years ago," the sixteen year old explained. Tinkering with time compression for crafting purposes had added a few more years than just her adventures

Aptorius filed that fact away. Who ever her parent was likely matched the Celestial gods. The five sisters or even the Unconquered Sun himself. What an interesting little girl.

Sheila had been feeling a growing sense of fear that tried to intrude upon her mind, to force herself to flee. But she was of stubborn wit and refused to let it gain a purchase.

The finally exited the tunnel of rock and its blue crystals to come into a roughly built dome. There was a crack in the top above that had roots growing downward.

"Here lies a lost treasure under a fearful curse. I would ask that you lift it from its resting place and remove its curse. If you can." The city-god is watching her closely to see what she will do.

The object is mostly buried and only a bit of blue jade-steel pokes out from the top of the mound. Sheila is pretty sure that just digging it out is not what Aptorius is looking for her to do. She finally lets go of the hilt of the sword at her hip, losing sight of the god. A single bound takes her to the top of the mound.

The wind gathers at her behest as she steps on the winds as if they were solid as unmoving stone. Fingers wrap on the handle or shelf that sticks out. And then she lifts.

The ancient warstrider of a lost shogun era warrior is pulled from its earthly tomb. Tens of tons of force are exerted, ripping it out of the ground's grasp. Her neck bumps against the rock ceiling even as she continues to lift.

And Aptorius watched as strength was revealed that rivaled the great mechanical titans of an ancient age or the behemoths of the Primordial.

The rock and earth above must be thicker than the demigoddess had thought, as she was stalemated. With a frown, she set ichor through her veins. First doubling her strength, then far more. Rock ground out of the way as her petite shoulders continued lifted, pushing hundreds of tons of rock and earth out of the way.

Out on the plains of Puyo, an overgrown hill covered in ancient trees and reputed to be haunted quacked and the broke as Sheila lifted warstrider into the air.

Aptorius materialized after he realized that Sheila could not hear his questions. She had some means to see the immaterial, but it was not constant. Ah, the sword at her hip that she had kept her grip on the entire walk here. "You have succeeded beyond my wildest imaginings. I thought only an elder Solar or Lunar would move such a mass while fighting off the fearsome curse. Shall I explain who this was?"

"If you don't mind, ancient one," Sheila replied politely as she laid him out.

"He was a hero of the Shogunate and the East. Here he was known as one of the great lords of Denandsor. Then a great tragedy struck. We call it the Great Contagion. It was death to nine-tenths of any living soul. Armies of undead and the Fair-Folk of the Wyld both attacked. People thought it was the end. He had been away from his home in fair Denandsor and led his personal armsmen from the Blessed Isles. But he stopped here and helped fight back the Fair-Folk, even as black death clogged his lungs. For three days and three nights his noble warstrider led his men and the remainder of the shogunate army that was stationed here. And so my fair Puyo was saved when the more important Denandsor fell."

"A warstrider is very valuable, so I'm surprised that no one recovered it," the young girl said in consternation.

"Almost no one can approach this closely. Even myself, I feel an intense fear and it has only been minutes," Aptorius explained as he held out his thin hands with long, lacquered nails to point at it.

"Not a warstrider ability from what I understand. So perhaps something upon the body of your noble warrior." Deft fingers pried through dry dirt like it was fresh loam, opening the ancient helmet to reveal the grinning skull of the body within. Orichalcum cords had to be removed from the the mummified body. "Here."

And here was a strange stone, inset into a set of bracers. The stone almost pulsed with malice.

"A hearthstone? I have never heard of such a thing." The old god looked intently on the bracers. "Ah, I remember. Chomi-Li had one of the five hearthstones of Denandsor, a protection against the wyld shaping magics. It must be resonating with its Manse in the heart of the lost city. Perhaps you will be the one to reclaim the treasures of a past age."

"Lost Denandsor. Hmm." Sheila closed her eyes as she thought over what she knew of the abandoned, cursed city. One of the great artificer cities of the Shogunate, rivaling the Blessed Isles in some ways. "I think I need to speak to my superior officer." And time for a little horse-trading.

"Of course." Aptorius's lips quirked up in a small smile.

With that, she pulled out her travelling trunk and slipped the stone into and the pressed it back into its non-space, immediately blocking the oppressive feeling. Then she hefted the warstrider onto her shoulder and then took off at a run back to the city at such a fast pace that she left a trail of grass flattened by her sonic boom.

* * *

Chien-Wun looked over the battered wreck of the near priceless warstrider that was laid out on the ground near his main office. "This is what the city-god of Puyo wanted to show you?"

"Actually, retrieving it was a test of some sort. I guess the hearthstone that I found was resonating with the Curse of Denandsor. So the fact that I could retrieve it makes him think that I could possibly do something about the lost city."

The older wood-aspected dragonblood's eyes widened at that. "That is unexpected. If true... the ramifications are far reaching." The officer started to walk around the battered warstrider, noting the decay and rust. "I'm not sure this unit is worth repairing."

"I would like to try," Sheila said as she walked over wiped a bit of the clinging dirt from it.

"Take it over to the vehicle bay then. Write up a report. I want to know what you did and what you faced. I'll forward it up to the General Staff." With that, Chien-Wun headed back to his paperwork.

Goa, the green-haired dragonblood of Yachu's old fang with her, was shaking her head as Sheila lifted the damaged warstrider off the ground with one hand. "A noble warstrider. Those are rare. The only type more rare are the Royal class warstriders. Even Lookshy only has a pair of those. And they are made for Anathema."

Imanari, the fiery god-blood of the 28th Fang, just laughed at at her. "It must have been a monster on the battlefield."

The rest of the troops that had gathered started to break up to go back to their duties and training, but the pair of her old fang-mates followed her over to the semi-permanent shop.

"Hmm. I need to clean it out without losing anything." Sheila was already thinking of using a large canvas tarp and a hose to carefully remove the grime and infestation of bugs.

The shugan-junai, Ama-Inu, looked over at the large form that barely fit the huge slab of rock. "Well, at least it does not look like it is missing anything _vital_. This is going to be a very long term project. Months at the least." He rubbed his short hair and top-knot even as he grimaced.

"I can speed things up a bit. While I'm not as good at crafting as my old band, I did pick up the knack for speeding up the job." And that did not even include manipulating time itself.

"Oh? Let us see how that works out," Ama-Inu said with a grin. While he was a sorcerer and technician, he was very down to earth. It seemed something about being an engineer in any reality, Sheila thought whimsically.

The repair fang from Lookshy were swept up into Sheila magically enhanced crafting spree. The first thing that was done was to clean out all the dirt and bugs. The young demigoddess was demanding though, making sure that no part was thrown out, no matter how damaged or corroded. Each item was carefully catalogued even as the pitted armor was removed from the nearly pristine frame.

The technicians had fallen in with a fervor, delighted in working on such an advanced warstrider with its lost secrets. Ama-Inu found that the young girl had a more than impressive intellect, seemingly able to decipher even the most obtuse of functions.

In fact, she restored a few things that had been lost even to this warstrider that had been aped by its makers from the older, First Age warstriders. She picked the most exacting meaning and means without any missteps, cutting months off the repair time. The shugan-junai had learned a few things that surprised him as they worked. Moonsilver, jade-steel and even orichalcum fragments were swept up by her keen eye, leaving none to waste. The least amount of spare material was used.

Instead of using enough material to repair both of the other warstriders two times over, they managed with only the jade-steel of half of one. As the sun was setting on Saturnday, only a week after discovering the lost warstrider, the magi-technicians and Sheila had managed a minor miracle in rebuilding the ancient warstrider.

The deep blue jade-steel armor gleamed under the polishing hands of the technician.

Goa and Imanari had both watched from the edge of the room as the warstrider had been cleaned, stripped, rebuilt and the repaired and reassembled. Nothing specifically seemed faster than humanly possible, but when taken together an impossible amount of work had been accomplished in a short amount of time.

Amu-Inu looked over at young demigoddess. "I suppose we need to test it out. Would you do the honors?"

Sheila frowned ever so slightly. She was slightly worn, the ichor within her body flowing a bit sluggishly. This would take quite a bit of her remaining power, but then again, this was her salvage. "Certainly. Stand back, as I'd rather not crush anyone."

The young demigoddess had to slip out of her lightweight armor, as the orichalcum strands had to be strapped around the body with only light cotton as padding. In her mind, she was already planning a 'warstrider' driver-suit, a garment designed to be worn and attached to the filaments of super-gold more easily across the chakra points of the body and head.

The helm lowered down over her head and then with nary a creak or groan, the twenty foot tall magitech mecha stood up. Sheila felt slow and clumsy with the armor, but stepped lightly across the ground as her uncanny agility was not greatly hampered. Somehow she was able to walk as lightly as even, not even crushing the grass beneath her heavily armored feet.

The soldiers of Lookshy shouted a cheer. On the second floor of his office in his private quarters, Chien-Wun cracked his shutter to look outside. So the sight of the warstrider walking around with ease as it did warm-up exercises.

"One week? Training normal men is a waste of your abilities, isn't it?" he said to himself. It appeared he needed to rewrite his report he was going to send to the General Staff.

* * *

**Chapter 6: Cities of Legend**

Sheila was drilling her fang of soldiers three days later as the wind blustered and rain drops would fall occasionally, pushing them almost to the point of collapse when Chuzei Yachu called out. The old soldier accepted their salute. "I will be relieving you here, hachei. You are to see the Taizei immediately."

"Yes sir," she replied as she saluted again.

The moment his hand dropped she blurred off and appeared near the entrance a thousand feet away. She then knocked on the door.

"Enter." Chien-Wun was sitting at his desk with scrolls scattered about. He looked up at her and nodded. "Orders. You will take yourself and your salvaged warstrider to Lookshy to explain to the General Staff what your test was and that you succeeded. These are non-discretionary. You will make them happen as quickly as possible." With that, the older dragonblood tossed her a scroll with a blood red ribbon sealing it. "Begone."

She saluted and stepped back out, trotting over slowly (for her) back over to Chuzei Yachu. The old heroic mortal raised a craggy eyebrow at her approach across the trampled grass of the open practice field. "Haichei Sheila?"

"Order to report to the General Staff with the recovered warstrider poste-haste. I figure the fastest way is for myself to trot it on home by myself," she explained after yet another quick salute.

"By yourself? How long do you expect to be gone?" the superior officer asked as he started to juggle the loss of his budding trainee officer.

"Hopefully in just a day or so, but I expect it will be a thorough debriefing. So maybe a week," she replied.

"A week is a short time. And your travel time?" Yachu asked.

"A half an hour to see off my men and armor myself up, then another hour to Lookshy. So rather minimal." She gave him a shrug as he grinned at her while shaking his head.

"As fast as a wind spirit. Then be off. I'll assign your fang to Goa temporarily."

Forty-five minutes later, the deep blue warstrider was walking out of the hanger with her preternatural quiet and soft steps. She gave a salute to the banner of the two talons and her commanding officer, then drew the wind about her.

With a whoosh, the warstrider disappeared into the air and blasted through the dark and heavy clouds of the tail end of Ascending Air. Even with her extraordinary perception, it was still a bit hard to see through the clouds. She set her course based on the Sun in the sky and by the mountain range to the north hundreds of miles away.

An odd fact that Sheila had to adapt to is that Creation is 'mostly flat'. Because of that, there was no possibility of navigation satellites to orbit the world. Water started to pool inside of the warstrider unpleasantly, as the open grill of its helmet did nothing to block the air flow or rain.

Luckily she soon left the storm clouds behind as she came upon the mountain range. Sheila studied these closely, as this was likely the best source of metals near Lookshy. Her eidetic memory and acute senses quickly scanned possible mining sites. Though most of those already had towns and villages there, scrabbling a hard existence.

The people of Marukan looked up to see what caused the strange thunder off in the distance. Her sonic boom was not something most people had ever heard. The air spirits winding through the mountains stopped their howling for just a moment, trying to remember the ancient memory.

The armor had shed the rain from earlier, leaving a contrail of water vapor across the sky as she continued to rocket towards Lookshy. After the mountains came the grasslands and gentle hills that lay south of Lookshy. The young goddess took note of the different villages along with what she suspected were lost Manses. The overgrown hill of where she entered was again noted and catalogued.

Flashing lights on the south facing walls were flickering, sending out a challenge. Sheila slowed her headlong flight, dropping to a mere couple of hundred miles per hour. Then she stopped in the air as the semaphore signal ordered her to halt.

She waited patiently and was finally rewarded (ten minutes later) with instructions to land at the great hanger near the promontory point on the north side. This was actually part of the massive factory cathedral, the Aviary. The twenty foot tall warstrider landed with barely a metallic thump under its curved arches.

"Taizei, that warstrider has no flight wings," a startled soldier called out.

"That could just mean they used magic," the superior officer called out.

The warstrider then saluted as Sheila called out through the grill of the helmet, "Haichei Sheila of the Puyo Expedition, arriving!"

"Well met. Please exit the warstrider so that it may undergo repair and refit," the taizei called out.

It leaned down to kneel and then powered off as it locked into place. The helmet and neck-guard lifted up and out of the way, revealing a young blonde head of hair. She unwrapped the orichalcum control cables and then hopped down easily, recovering her armor from a small rucksack that had been in an equipment pouch on the outside.

"A beauty," the senior officer said in admiration.

"I salvaged it and then did a bit of fixing it up. I fear I used a bit too much of our repair supplies." Sheila was busy looking around by changing her focus without moving her eyes. After all, having better peripheral vision than most people had with their focus was a very useful thing.

Rows of assault transport skyships were laid out in the cavernous hangar, stacked four high. Other air-ships fit into the odd docks of larger or smaller size.

"You fixed it up? I did not know you were trained as shugan-junai to support the First Age weapons and magitech." The taizei in fact knew she was not trained in that.

"I am very gifted and I've been picking up some things while helping out with our warstriders and essence cannons." She frowned even as she thought over the conundrum of the cyber 'magi-tech' mortals that could somewhat equal the basic dragonblood soldiers of Lookshy. She was pretty sure she could actually cure them by removing their implants, but she was not allowed near them to verify her thoughts. It was very similar to that black magitech armor that had attacked Dolph just months ago.

"Gifted? I understand your 'speed-boats' are very popular for high speed courier and scouting-" the officer was saying when braying alarms started to sound. "Crash warning?"

Sheila looked out the opening of the massive Aviary, seeing flames engulf a massive, three hundred foot long skyship that looked like a steel and jade orca high above. It was obvious that it was in serious trouble as it started to angle down.

The girl disappeared with a boom that rattled the whole building, becoming a streak up into the sky as the Kireeki-Class Assault Skyreme plunged towards the ground like a meteorite. Either by bad luck or malicious foresight.

The tazei she left behind shouted out, "Lock it down! Check for saboteurs!" Where had the girl gone?

Said young demigoddess slammed her shoulder up against what she thought was the main support strut. Supernaturally strong and flexible fingers grabbed a purchase and she put her whole back into before the skyship could crash into the towers and minirets of Lookshy's main manse.

She was barely slowing and had almost no time. Ichor burned within her body as she forced her legend, her will and her power full to its task.

Down below in the shadows of the pyramid that housed the sanctum of Tu Yu, the dragonblooded spy and assassin from the Realm (in fact, of the All Seeing Eye) watched as the strange 'resonating essence mine' caused the power to fail on the large skyship just as it completed its standard tenth pattern of patrol that led nearly directly over the heart of Lookshy.

He had no idea why the secretive masters within the shadowy organization had ordered the attack (and provided the strange First Age weapon) but he had heard it may have been in response to the loss of one of their pawns from the Kingdom of Harborhead. Something about their ambush being turned back and destroyed by a force half their size.

Tu Yu and Tien Yu stepped out to the entrance of the old city-god's sanctum just as the steel behemoth curled left and seemed to fly like an arrow at the heart of Lookshy. The young-looking goddess in black dragonscale armor raised her hand as she prepared to draw upon the future of her city to save Lookshy now even if she did not have enough time. "Too late!" she bemoaned.

"Wait," the ancient (and sometimes mad) god Tu Yu said as he felt something heavy and unforeseen weighing upon the essence of the city.

And somehow, the essence spewing skyship _stopped_ just before it would smash into the manse.

Sheila felt her shoulders burn even as her veins throbbed with power as she realized she was actually below the level of the high towers of Lookshy Manse. Green-purple waves of visible essence thrummed from the large ship even as she slowly walked it over to an courtyard in between the Aviary and the looming towers.

Burns across her body from the out of control essence flows of the skyship were barely being healed up by her ichor. With a grimace, she moved up a hatch on the side of the bulbous vessel and ripped it off its hinges while moving. Her superhuman perception was tasked to its utmost as she almost flickered through the gantries and accessways of the skyship.

She did not find the essence resonator (it was hidden under the floor in the next room) she did find the hearthstone mounted in the control room. She snatched it from the control panel and then dashed back outside to send it skittering across the ground.

The resonance fluttered and then died. And with that, Sheila relaxed even as she saw hundreds of soldiers heading this way. "Ow." She felt very frazzled, scorched and ugly.

"By Tien Yu's armor! How is she alive?" a _very_ high ranking officer called out. Like most Exalted, he looked young and perhaps only in his early thirties. "Surrender, Anathema!"

"Sorry taimyo, sir!" Sheila called out as she snapped out a salute. "I was not prepared to enter battle when I attempted to stop the skyship. Haichei Sheila of the 3rd Talon of the 4th Field Force."

Even as Taimyo Bukane Winter Rose and his 'yellow' guard looked on in surprise, she healed the last of her damage and then, with a shake of her head, cleaned up the ash and regrew her hair. The officer tasked with defending Lookshy finally scowled. "And what happened?" He had barely gotten back to his organizational meeting after some idiot flew a warstrider into Lookshy's restricted space.

"I was arriving as orders to present myself to the General Staff with my salvaged warstrider when the skyship suddenly was bursting with dangerous energies as it headed towards the Manse at dangerous speeds. I caught it, put it to the side and then quickly removed its Hearthstone as I conjectured that it was being affected or tapped into somehow." The lanky girl's back was ramrod straight.

"You were that damned warstrider flying around and setting off all those alarms?" Winter Rose scowled at the girl as she nodded. "And you can lift something that weighs more than six _hundred_ bulls?" Wait... Sheila? Of the 4th Field Force? Had they not just sent out those orders by courier air spirit today?

Sheila blinked at that. "I guess I can. Cool." Of course, Dolph could easily lift twenty times that. She patted the downed airship on the side of its hull. "I wonder how long it will take to repair it up to field state?"

Winter Rose stopped for a second as he considered matters. "It is likely we are going to have to salvage it for parts. Unless you think you can repair it better than our most esteemed Waitan-Junai assigned to the Aviary?" A subtle challenge to try and trick her into doing what was considered impossible in this lowly age.

She just smiled. "If I'm allowed, I'll do that!" The young demigoddess looked off into the distance. "Oh, someone should recover that Hearthstone."

The spy was frowning as he watched the situation. The loss of one skyship that was almost not even used would be a negligible hindrance. It appeared Lookshy was as strong as ever.

* * *

It was two days later that Sheila found herself opening the door to her small apartment. It was a modest dwelling on the third floor of the 'singles' quarters within the third ring. Really, she had barely managed to put in a basic mattress. Luckily there was a little food cart down at the end of the row. Young soldiers were notorious for not being very good cooks.

Her 'debriefing' with the general staff had not been the most pleasant experience. It had taken the intervention of Tu Yu, the old god of Lookshy, to disabuse them of the fact that she was not 'Anathema'. The old-looking god had explained that Sheila was odd in not already being a god as they knew them. In fact, those 'little gods' were very similar to the nature spirits of Shintoism or ancient Greece.

The 'revelation' (not that she had ever really hidden it) that she was actually much closer to the daughter of a Celestial or even Incarae goddess had been unnerving to the taimyo of Lookshy. The dozen leaders and their aides had grilled her about the greatest feats of her 'kind'. That was when Tu Yu had to explain that she was not a Solar, maddened demigods that had controlled the First Age after helping the celestial gods dethrone the Primordials.

While Sheila had not been physically tired, she had felt stretched out and 'normal' from her overuse of her abilities. And now she was on leave until the General Staff decided her fate.

Her kettle was hot enough for her to add the tea leaves and she sipped the bitter black leaf brew. Luckily caffeine seemed fairly universal, even if they did not call it by that name.

The rapping at her door caught her attention. "One moment," she called out hastily. She splurged some of her last remaining power to look pristine as she unlocked and opened the door.

The tall figure in moonsilver-chased black dragon armor was not who she had expected to see. Tien Yu nodded her head and whispered, "Hello, young legionnaire."

"Tien Yu, how can I help you?" Sheila gestured for her to come in and sit on the only pile of cushions.

"You did a great thing, saving years of Lookshy's life." Tien Yu's dusky skin had a luster that alluded to the night's sky.

"I was a bit reckless and nearly got myself squashed. I just did what anyone would have." The lanky demigoddess gave a shrug.

"Such actions should always be rewarded," Tien Yu said softly. "Alas, we are limited in time."

Sheila was a little confused, so twisted her mental outlook to match the social outlook of Lookshy. "Well, if you need more, I can accomodate that. How much more time do you need?"

The war-goddess of Lookshy blinked her pale-green eyes at that. "At least a night."

"That should be easy enough." Sheila walked to the doorway. "For those times when you really need that extra day or week. Or month. As long as you remember to bring enough food."

"A very wondrous thing. Are you ready?" the young goddess of Lookshy asked. She was starting to remove large gauntlets.

Sheila suddenly had a very strong suspicion of where this might lead. And she did not think she could refuse the reward, lest she anger one of the few gods that seemed to be her advocate. With slightly blushing cheeks, Sheila asked, "What form will this reward take?" She hated that her voice almost squeaked out.

Tien Yu's gray eyebrows curled down slightly. "You intrigue me, so I wish to spend a night in your bed. How long will this night last?"

"I, um, sorta over-did it. Food will be great concern than time." Her cheeks were flaming now.

"How old are you, Sheila?" the goddess of Lookshy asked.

"I'm sixteen. Stuck in the body of an eleven year old. Well, I could make myself look slightly older." Between one moment and another, she was suddenly inches taller and as developed as she figured she would naturally be. She tried to pull her shirt down.

"Then let me guide you upon this moment of adulthood. Help me with my armor," Tien Yu whispered.

The young demigoddess gulped. She hoped she did not turn out like her grandfather Zeus.

* * *

An old man walked up a set of stairs into the Dome of the Perfect Lotus. Of course, he was sideway on a wall, but this was the fastest way to his favorite viewing location. Chejop Kejak, oldest of the Viziers, a Sidereal of the Maiden of Secrets. He paused on a step for just a second, carefully petting a small pattern spider's back.

Then he continued on his way, finding a balcony to assay the Artifact known as the Loom of Fate. "Why did Nara-O ask that I come here?"

"Because a secret held only by one has changed a fate," the god of singular secrets said as he appeared behind Chejop. His mummy-like wrappings, as always, hid his/her/its form from any view. "Lookshy's destruction has been moved back due to the birth of a god."

"Tu Yu and Tien Yu have figured a way around the Fate and Destiny of Lookshy?" Here the Vizier referred to the fact that Lookshy was fated to die. Nothing could stop that. Or at least nothing _should_ be able to stop it.

"The Other Demigoddess, outside of the Fate and the Loom, is starting to exert a pull upon the Loom." Nara-O pointed towards the indistinct snarl that was Lookshy's eventual Fate. It was far less defined, indicating that the city's demise was suddenly no longer near or clear.

"Yet she is not a demon, from the Underworld or the Wyld? Do you know her secrets known only to herself?" Chejop Kejak asked the god.

"Her secrets are her own. She seems very upfront, which makes me wonder what she actually hides," the god whispered in the voice of a child.

"She is due to be investigated by the Buereau of Heaven for her actions, though I think most will only cheer her on for having destroyed Janequin; Fortune's Fool. Only if they discover her to be a goddess pretending to be a mortal will they take any action." The old Sidereal stroked his long goatee and mustache. "We will have to watch her closely."

Nara-O chuckled. "That is one secret that many have, I believe. We can look forward to an interesting fate in the future."

But a Fate and Destiny that was outside of the Loom of Destiny, Chejop Kejak noted sourly. "I do wonder why you have become enamored with that phrase, Nara-O."

"Perhaps I see interesting times ahead." And with that, the enigmatic god disappeared.

The Sidereal sighed in frustration, turning to walk back out the path he had just traced. He still had fifty hours of work to do this day and only ten hours left.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Crafting Endeavors**

Sheila blinked at the silver-blonde hair on the young figure in front of her that looked no older than five years old. She rubbed her eyes, then looked over at the nude form of Tien Yu on their shared bed roll.

The young goddess of Lookshy was a bit confused herself. "I have never birthed a child that was as powerful as I am."

"Hi!" the very young god-child said.

"We should name her?" the young alien demigoddess said, trying not to show how freaked out she was.

"That is a good idea. What would you call her, to give her purpose?" the gray-haired goddess asked even as she rubbed the head of the child.

That caused Sheila to nod her head. "Why don't we call you Athene the Innovator. That is for my mother, Paellas Athena, Goddess of War and Wisdom."

"Innovator? Creating new things? I think I like that," Athene said in a very childish voice.

"I must take the child to Yu-Shan and get to know her. So that she may find her way, though I may see a place here at my side. While it has been a pleasurable week, I think I must take my leave." Tien Yu put her forefinger to Sheila's lip. "Come see me at my mansion in Yu-Shan when you ascend to that lofty place."

The young demigoddess nodded. The goddess of Lookshy had explained that what she was doing was technically against the Mandate of Heaven, as gods were not supposed to interact directly with mortals. She watched as Tien Yu donned her armor while Athene asked her all sorts of questions, then left through the door.

That broke the sanctity of the time compression. With a groan, Sheila cleaned up and started scribbling ideas at her low table.

There was a knock at her door the next morning. Sheila carefully opened it to see a higher ranking officer. "Shozei, how may I assist you?" she asked as she saluted.

The dragonblood caught a whiff of sex out of the small apartment. "I am delivering your orders. You are hereby assigned to the Aviary to see about refurbishing skyships to the best of your abilities." It appears that Tien Yu _had_ bestowed her favor upon the young girl, a very high recommendation in the eyes of Lookshy and the 7th Legion. He then handed her a scroll with her specific orders.

"I will do my best," she said in a tone of promise.

With that, the shozei departed. It was only ten minutes later that Sheila was walking out of the District of Barracks. It was only a short walk through guarded gates and portcullis through the District of Residences and then into the Old City itself. These two districts were where the true power of Lookshy lay with the dragonblood gentes. The old mansions and expensive homes were where the elite of Lookshy lived.

The guard at the entrance to the Aviary gave her a deep, discerning look, then sent in the young demigoddess. Sheila looked at herself in a reflection of polished stone and realized she had not reverted to her 'true' form. A moment's thought and she was back to her normal age of eleven.

In the center of the massive workshop lay the battered and damaged form of the Kireeki-class skyship as the first shift of shugan-junai were setting themselves up to work. Taimyo Nefvarin Shou-Yu, the 'general' of the Sky Guard was watching with a practiced eye while having a low voiced conversation with her subordinate officers even as the shugan-junai did their assay of the ship.

All of the Sky Guard wore sky-blue skull caps, even the fully uniformed Nafvarin Shou-Yu. Sheila wondered at the name, then realized that this could be a half-sibling of her... daughter. That was going to take a while to absorb correctly into her mind frame. "Haichei Sheila, reporting for duty. I apologize that I did not have time to get myself equipped as befitting those among the Sky Guard."

"Your orders were to come immediately, so that is expected." Whitish gray hair and dusky skin hinted at her mother, Tien Yu, though she would deny that claim as she had been adopted into the gentes Nefvarin as a babe. It was not polite to bring up the indiscretions of your goddess (or mother) to the public eye. The sky-aspected dragonblood nodded at the immaculate armor and appearance of the young demigoddess. "You said you wished to attempt to fix this poor skyship. I have given over to you a talon of my finest shugan-junai. Prove to me you can do this."

Sheila saluted and then nodded. "I will do my utmost."

The young demigoddess turned her immense, godly level of intellect upon the ship, even as she walked down both sides. She was handed a scroll and had to bite back a sigh. She walked over to a small workshop and in ten minutes had created a clipboard and filled it with sheets that she had cut from the scroll. Then she walked back and started to scribble notes on the problems of the First Age wonder.

The sorcerer technicians had noted the efficiency of the clipboard, wondering why they had never seen nor thought of such a simple thing before. The lowest ranked one was sent off to quickly make several dozen. Sheila then crawled inside the almost gutted ruins of the ship.

Two hours later, she came back out with dozens of sheets filled with notes. "Follow me," she ordered her shugan-junai. She started laying out the problems (oh so very many) of the skyship. Other than being more thorough and of greater insight, it was as bad as they feared.

"So with the damage to the essence engine, it came as close to absolute destruction without being destroyed. I figure that we can repair it within... three months." Sheila's words stunned them, as they had figured it was worth only salvaging. Trying to repair it was almost as much work as building a new one, which had nearly beggared Lookshy a few centuries ago.

"Are you sure this is within our capabilities?" the eldest sorcerer technician asked.

"While I'm nowhere as good at crafting as my cousin Janeka, I picked up some tricks I can use to speed up the work plus my intellect is very much up to the task." She shuffled the papers back up. "We should start the purification rituals immediately so I can get to my paperwork. Let's start with how much jade, moonsilver, orichalcum and other magical materials we will need."

As they listened, they started nodding. And believing.

Behind them, Taimyo Nefvarin Shou-Yu was also nodding. This was a bit of a gamble, but if Sheila could actually repair things as quickly as she stated, then it was well worth it.

* * *

Two and a half months later, the repaired Kireeki-class Assault Skyreme _Wrath of the East_, was being unveiled. The entire General Staff was on hand to see the gleaming, polished form lift off from the ground to take its shakedown cruise.

The Sky Guard taimyo was at ease as her kazei and shozei subordinates explained the miracle of craftsmanship. The chumyo, overall leader of General Staff and the 7th Legion, watched the ship fly off. He turned to his staff and the taimyo of the various Field Forces that were present.

"So it was a First Age weapon. Most likely from the Realm." The nearly two hundred year old dragonblood was once again seething over the attack.

"A resonating essence mine. We found a record that the Anathema of the Sun, an Unclean, would sometimes use it to cause skyships to crash and kill all aboard," the head of the wai tan-junai on the General staff said. The shozei was never one to bandy words.

"So what should we do with the haichei?" Chumyo Kiragasa Avan asked of his staff.

"She wishes enough resources and men to fix up a lost manse, so that she may attempt to return to her 'creation'," noted Nefvarin Shou-Yu. "I would love to leverage the most we can out of her. Perhaps card trading of the highest order."

The other leaders of Lookshy nodded. "Perhaps we should base what resources we will provide upon how many First Age artifacts she repairs?"

"I broached that idea with her, but she was wanting something that would happen faster than just a year or so. She did mention that Aptorius, city-god of Puyo, had suggested she might be able to breach the protection around lost Denendsor. The cache of First Age wonders there would be worth almost as much as Lookshy's entire armory."

Kiragasa Ava noted the look of avarice upon his staff's face. "This is not something that we can ignore. If we can make Denendsor a subservient city-state to Lookshy, our strength might double itself."

And make them far more invulnerable to attack from the Blessed Isle. The Scarlet Empress would be quite wroth at that thought.

"Assign her a talon of soldiers. I want a plan in readiness to move a Field Force to Denendsor if she can remove its curse," the chumyo said with barely concealed excitement.

Even Nexus would be jealous of Lookshy's resources if they succeeded. Though perhaps they should look at sharing the burden and wealth.

* * *

"A talon?" Sheila asked carefully in her office in the Aviary. There was a large stack of read scrolls on the left side of the table, covering a variety of historical and thaumaturgical research.

"Indeed, Chuzei Sheila. The General Staff has agreed to your plan to try and take Denendsor. Make your request for supplies and transport." The sozei, a high ranking aide roughly equivalent to a lt. colonel in Sheila's translation in her head, handed her a very thick scroll.

"I'm back in the 4th Field Force?" she noted, thinking that she would be quite happy to be done with the sky-blue skullcap of the Sky Guard.

"Yes, this seems quite the experimental endeavor, so falls under its mandate." The sozei saluted and then exited.

Sheila spent an hour planning in her office, then cleaned it out to a pristine manner. She then headed down to Taimyo Nafvarin Shou-Yu's office and asking for an appointment. It was only twenty minutes later that she was admitted as several officers left as she entered. "Taimyo, if I may make some requests on my new duties?"

"Go ahead," the leader of the Sky Guard said.

"I wish to procure the services of two Manta-class transports to help ferry my new talon to our staging area outside Denendsor," she explained simply.

"That is more than enough for a full talon on a long journey, but what of their supplies?" the taimyo asked curiously. That would be another two full transports at the minimum.

"I'll just carry those myself. That will free up more resources." She gave the older woman a smile.

"Well, that shows you are still willing to get into the nitty-gritty details of work still. Most people see promotion as a way to avoid menial work," was the older dragonblood's reply.

"I am trying to get this done as soon as possible. I have tarried too long in Creation." The young girl's melancholy was quite audible in her tone of voice.

"You can have them by this time Saturnday," Nafvarin Shou-Yu replied. She then made a shooing gesture, sending off the lower ranked officer.

That was only five days away.

* * *

Omur-Li grumbled as he walked with his fang through the Old City under the drizzling rain of Ascending Water. While the East never became as cold as the far reaches of the North, it could still be miserable. This was all some sort of mysterious deployment. The only thing he had found out is that they would be taking a Manta-Class transport, which was almost unheard of in this day and age. Normally Lookshy only used their Sky Guard to cow the less advanced threats.

It looked like a full talon was here, but only two transports and one very large pile of supplies lashed together. Was that a warstrider laid out on top? The soldiers soon trickled into fang and scale formation.

Sheila looked over her small army as she saluted to her subordinate officers. She walked up to the front of the talon and onto the wing of one of the transports with a simple hop.

"This is the 25th Talon of the 4th Field Force. Today, we are setting out to our rally point near Denendsor. If I do my job right and remove the curse there, we will occupy Denendsor for Lookshy." Sheila looked over the very attentive gaze of the soldiers. "The journey should take twelve hours and we leave as soon as you embark. For the Legion!" she shouted out as ichor thrummed in her veins.

Suddenly they felt, no more _knew_, that they could take Denendsor, deadly curse or not. With a huge shout, they set off to prove their chuzei correct. In short order, the two Manta-class skyships were lifting off even as Sheila hefted one hundred tons upon her shoulder.

The procession flew out over Lookshy, causing a bit of consternation at the lumpy mass of crates following the two airships.

Very few people saw the skyship formation leave, as they were crossing mostly empty farmlands. Only when they crossed the Gray River near the Marukan Redoubt. Even so, very few of them had the eyes to see so high up. They ran into another rain storm as they crossed into the great plains of Denendsor.

They made it in exactly twelve hours in the early dusk under cloudy skies. The talon went to work immediately, setting up a base camp with the large tents in the supply pile.

Sheila left some basic orders for the five scale's sochei, her under-officers. "Then I'm going to assay the area and do a long range scout of the city. I should hopefully be back in an hour."

With that, she zipped into the air to travel the circumference of the ancient, overgrown city. A few of the automatons with long range essence cannons took potshots at her, but she was far too hard a target for them to hit at this range.

Eyes that could read the ancient writings inside offices and keen enough to see through the gloomy evening scanned what she had researched was the heart of Denendsor. After half an hour, she was fairly sure of the location that she wanted to enter through.

Pulling Hadecleus from its sheath, she fought to tame one of its powers that it granted its dead owner. And with that, disappeared. The ancient Artifact Intelligence that was monitoring the latest 'attack' upon dead Denendsor quickly followed its directives, scanning in the nearby areas for where the attacker could have gone.

Sheila was already nearing her entrance, floating as if just a gust of wind. The miasma of Denensdor was palpable, but her will seemed capable of holding it back for at least a while. In her mind, speed was probably the priority.

Luckily, her speed matches her needs.

Automatons that looked like human warriors in super-heavy jade-steel plate patrolled continuously, keen lenses and sensitive metallic eardrums tuned for any intruders, all linked to the Artifact Intelligence that had been tasked with defender doomed Denendsor no matter what.

Deeper and deeper she went down into the ancient manse, using the bare amount of light from flickering essence lights that still worked.

The Artifact Intelligence realized that this was a far more serious threat than had tried to broach its defenses. While its crystalline matrix was hidden behind an almost invisible secret door, the same could not be said for the main vaults. Those were just heavy slabs of mystical metals locked by the best tumblers and mechanisms that the Shogunate could create.

So it summoned ten more of its defenders to the entrance of the vault, which strangely actually made it easier for Sheila to find the massive metal doors. There was a seal upon the entrance that probably used some sigil (which the young demigoddess mentally earmarked as an important thing to find) but was not a hugely great impediment itself.

The guardian automatons, on the other hand, would be. Splitting her attention in the dimly lit anteroom, a gust of wind pulled down a tapestry hanging on a rod back down the hall. The clatter of its metal pole bouncing immediately had all of the automatons turn and focus on that for just a second before the Artifact Intelligence could issue orders.

The actual 'lock' for the vault door was but a moment's work to bypass (a mathematical progression using the five elements and astrological signs) for her intellect. The vault door popped open cleanly and mystically forged hinges. Sheila only let it open a mere eighteen inches before pulling it closed behind her as silently as possible.

This led into a series of reinforced rooms full of activated equipment. The miasma suddenly reached a feverish pitch, forcing Sheila's ichor to reflexively 'hiccup' against the mental onslaught to stave off madness. _That_ was never a good sign.

Down the left corridor lay more activated Artifacts. Legend stated that the daimyo had started to randomly activate them all in a failed bid to save his city. But it would have to be one of his last activations that had to cause the problem. So Sheila searched very fast, as an invisible gust of wind that carefully did not kick up dust.

And finally she found the nearly petrified remains of the daimyo. Under the deadly watch of five guardian automatons.

First, any Artifact in the corridor that required a Hearthstone had the varied and polished fist sized jewels removed. That left three more even as she heard the guardians scrambling around, actually moving away for a moment. It appeared there was some sort of security sensors noting the removal of the stones in this corridor. So she only time for one manual deactivation. Then she would have to fight.

She instantly decided upon the mass of soulsteel spires rising out of what might be a metal skull the size of a beach ball... because it had the First Age glyphs for emotion-scanning from the underworld. Channeling her Legend through it in reverse of what she would have attempted to use to turn it on; she hoped it would turn off.

The miasma of Denendsor disappeared.

* * *

An hour later, the Artifact Intelligence noted an aberration after over 700 years. A flock of birds failed to turn away and was going to fly over the city. It took it precious essences cycles to verify sensors were working.

Animals were no longer staying away due to the weapon effect. This also included sentients. If it could feel emotion, worry would have been quite high on its list. But the Artifact Intelligence was still on 'defend at any cost' orders from a dead man-

"Ah, here you are," Sheila said as she stepped through the secret door.

The Artifact Intelligence, aptly named Denendsor Prime, focused on the girl in front of it. Essence sensors took in the daimyo's sigil, cutting short its immediate call for reinforcements.

Sheila stared at the massive crystal tree with flickering lights traveling through it so fast it looked like it glowed softly. "Denendsor Prime?"

"Please state your intentions," the AI said.

"Transfer of authority due to expiration of your current user per the orders and laws of the Shogunate to the nearest authority-" she was saying from her researched information on the Shogunate.

"Impossible. Shogunate is defunct and destroyed. Transfer is denied," the Artifact Intelligence said simply.

"-that is derived from the previous, such as a daimyo or sustained leadership of a legion."

"No such entity exists."

Sheila smiled at this. "I am Chuzei Sheila of the 4th Field Force of the 7th Legion that was formed under the last Shogun."

"You bear the sigil and a logical argument and have somehow blocked my summoning of guardians. What are your requests?" The AI stated it in his normal tone.

"So it's going to be that way? I guess I get to see how well I program in Old Realm Elemental Blocks," Sheila replied as she found the controls for the magical hologram control unit. "Now does a First Age computer have a ROOT access property?" She cracked her hands before she started typing at a non-stop rapid-fire pace.

* * *

Chumyo Kiragasa Avan settled in to the main meeting room of the General Staff. His piles of scrolls looked very daunting indeed this morning, making him very glad he had a bowl of the strongest tea laced with the most stimulating potion his healer allowed. Sending out a full Field Force was a monumental task, but nearly ready. In two weeks, they would be able to set out with a full equipment load.

The commander-in-chief of Lookshy wondered how the Denendsor Expedition was setting up their base camp-

_'Telepathic transmission from Denedsor 25th Talon. Denensdor secured. Please acknowledge this receipt verbally as I am unable to receive thoughts from such a long distance.' _

Kiragasa Avan stood up and shouted out almost angrily, "One night? You were supposed to take a week at best! Secure the city and await reinforcements."

Back in Denendsor, Shiela winced at very angry tones she was 'hearing' from clairvoyance. _'Understood sir.' she telepathically projected._ Time to get back to camp for breakfast. Hmm. Maybe she should send a message to Aptorius, the city-god of Puyo?

Their skyships would be worked much harder, Kirasaga decided.

All around Lookshy general alarms started to sound as every spy was caught off guard. They had heard that something was upcoming, but not for a few weeks. They should have been able to do more spying. As it was, half of them got sucked into the Denensdor Occupation Field Force.

By ten o'clock, the first fifty skyships were in the air and roaring off on essence engines. Lookshy had never quite seen this happen before.

* * *

Taizei Karal Yumi walked down the cobbled road of Marita. The missive the air spirit had just delivered had just ruined weeks of build up she thought she was going to have. Marita was singularly unimpressive. Its _only_ boast of fame was that it was central here in East. At least it had a nice meeting hall, even if it was basically built by Nexus, Lookshy and Great Forks. Her entourage huffed and puffed just a bit to keep up with her.

Several of the ambassadors looked up from their 'early' morning huddles as the grand double-doors opened as she re-entered after her hasty exit an hour ago. She walked up to the main podium and rang the bell.

"I have information of importance that I wish to speak of to all representatives." Her green eyes studied them all, noting the consternation on their faces. "Does anyone wish to summon or wait for the others?"

An old human from Nexus, Arno Plixem, called out, "All major partners are here."

It was true, only some of the minor cities were not present.

"I, Taizei Karal Yumi of Lookshy, wish to inform the Confederation of great news. Denendsor has been reclaimed. Lookshy is currently occupying the city as we speak."

A Soul Orb detonation _might_ have left things more quiet, but that was only because everyone would not be alive and breathing.

"Because of this extraordinary circumstance, Lookshy is willing to shoulder the greater part of this burden, yet we feel that all of our allies may bring great resources to bear. There are likely to be many bodies that need to be respectfully interred," she said while nodding to the representative of Sijan, "gods to be reintegrated into the city with devotion," here a nod to the Great Forks representative, "and many, many resources to be regained for the betterment of the region." Nexus's Arno Plixem was already thinking things through. "So we would welcome our friends and trade partners to come to Denendsor."

Pandemonium broke out as ripples of affect and response spread further and further.

* * *

The Solar-aspected Manse to the south-east of Lookshy no longer looked like an overgrown hill. Stained rock walls now showed their pillars and arches, as dozens of men had worked diligently to empty out the old, First Age structure.

Chuzei Draji, Sheila's original sponsor to the Legion, looked on as months of work was run through in just week. Old dragonlines had been resculpted and the Manse had been mostly cleaned out. "So you are ready?"

The young demigoddess just nodded. "I've split my effects and possessions between you, Regua and a few other comrades. So, shall we go see if everything is ready?"

The main hall with its amazing fresca to the Unconquered Sun had been cleared of debris. She gave a wink to Draji (that caused a laugh) and she then zipped up into the air to stand upside down. The Solar who had owned this Manse (and hidden it quite well until its Artifact Intelligence had shut itself down in a 'clean' manner) had some sort of charm or spell to turn gravity upside down. Sheila just 'flew' upside down in contrivance of gravity.

She was well rested and had planned in accordance. Lines of brilliant energy lit up under the fresco as a control panel appeared. The last use of the portal (Sheila arriving) had the Nth dimensional parameters listed. It should just be a matter of typing in the command properly and imbuing the hidden Artifact with almost all of her power.

Power hummed as the dragonlines groaned under the pull of Essence. Everything seemed to be working quite well when she got an error message.

_'No echo feedback from target terminal,' _it said. _'Aborting.'_

She dropped back to the ground, letting her arms catch herself like they had so long ago. Sheila looked over at Draji, opened her mouth but could not force out the words.

"It won't work?" the warstrider pilot said finally for her.

"It can not detect the target platform. It may have been destroyed or-" She gave a helpless shrug.

"I guess you will have to just stay around. I'm sure the General Staff would love to have you help with setting up the Cathedral Factories in Denendsor," Draji said as she clasped her hand on Sheila's back.

"I suppose."

* * *

**Chapter 8: Barbarians at the Gate**

Sheila had informed High Command and as her casual friend Draji had noted, they wanted her in Denendsor helping with its recovery. So in the last nine months she had helped recover two of the many Factory Cathedrals. This last one would be 'rented' out to Nexus, so that they could look at producing their own Artifacts.

Quartering in Denendsor was done by clearing out buildings. She now had a talon of shugan-junai of her own. Their next big project was the completion of a warstrider-sized automaton, originally slated for the Blessed Isles to become a regular part of the Wyld Hunt.

Sheila counted the days until Calibration. She might be able to manage it in the last five and a half weeks of the year, but she figured a smaller and more pleasant project would be appreciated. So she had her workshop create a magitech equivalent to a building air-conditioner. Half of modern-Earth technology and half-First Age technology, the ranking officer did not understand the need. To Taimyo Teresu Zen Wu of the occupying Field Force, climate control seemed an odd thing to want and need. (Though he was not going to tell her to turn it off for his command staff building either.)

She had a written up thesis on the importance of climate control in fabricating incredibly accurate parts when a figure appeared.

Dom-Aptur, a close cousin of Aptorius, had much improved since Denendsor had been reclaimed. The weeping god of loss had stopped crying, but his robes that had gears and piston stitched on it impeccably was stained down the front from his loss. He almost seemed crafted himself of all the mystical materials. "Chuzei Sheila, well met. I come bearing a missive from Yu-Shan, that you are to present yourself to the Bureau of Humanity under the Jurisdiction of the Satrap of the East; Ventressi-Merdo. He has convened a court to go over the matter of the death of Fortune's Fool; Janequin." The tarnished god nodded as he handed her the scroll of admittance. "These papers will admit you through the gate of Heaven here in Denendsor, but I believe it is blocked under part of the palace that has collapsed." He bowed here at this point. "I would be more than happy to let you stay in my humble abode in Yu-Shan, unless you have other arrangements?"

"Um, not per se, but I do have an invitation to drop by Tien Yu's. Is it expected that we depart immediately?" she asked curiously as she shuffled her papers. It appeared she would have to hand off her work to a subordinate. "I will have to clear this with my superior officer, but they were aware that this summons was upcoming."

An hour later, she had managed to fill out the paperwork for a leave of absence, much annoying her shozei superior officer, but the older dragonblood had known it was possible at any time. Sheila was soon following Dom-Aptur through the maze of streets towards the center of town. Automatons were busy cleaning back most of the vines and the city was starting to look quite habitable. If Sheila recalled correctly, there were two more caravans from Nexus and Grand Forks coming in before the end of the month.

"It is beneath there, a gate of Orichalcum, Moonsilver, Starmetal and green Jadesteel, over twelve feet wide and sixteen feet tall. Are you going to have to call some of the engineers to help clear this?" the city-god asked curiously.

"No need for such a simple job, I think." With that, the young demigoddess approached the ruin while studying it with her analytically trained eyes. She carefully started to pull the largest pieces of rock and aggregate that looked suspiciously like concrete to her.

Boulders the size of small house were hefted with great effort, but Sheila did not have to enhance her lifting ability as she had picked up from Dolph at times.

"Found it." Probably easier to pull it out and put it someplace better, in her mind. She grasped the archway of gold and green and then pulled with quite a bit more effort than before.

"Those really aren't supposed to be moved," Dom-Aptur said in a bland voice.

"I have to work my muscles sometimes. Battle practice sometimes is a little too low key," the young demigoddess complained.

It was not budging. She glared at it, but finally realized it was probably closer to 'anchored' on the local space-time than just weight.

"Guess I do it the hard way." With that she started to shift the debris around and quickly dug out the front of it. The back of it was attached to the massive wall of the palace manse.

After an hour, she had it most uncovered.

"I'll have to talk to the taimyo about assigning some automatons to help clear this area," she said as she patted off her hands. "So how do I open this?" She had read up on it, but did not want to make Dom-Aptur feel redundant. With a splurge in her legendary ichor, she was suddenly sparkling clean.

The newly reinstated city-god merely smiled at her and then walked up and pulled the left ring of the double doors. Without a groan, it slid open.

In the center of the doorway sat a large lion that seemed to be made of liquid gold, flanked by four more on each side. "Dom-Aptur, you have managed to get the doorway opened. This is the godblood Sheila?" the Celestial Lion asked as he stood up to his full height, nine foot at the shoulder.

"I am Sheila Henderson, demigoddess from a far off Creation. Well met, guardians of the gate of Yu-Shan," Sheila said politely.

The Celestial Lion approached, studying her intently. "You are kind of small to be making ripples in Yu-Shan, half-mortal. Present your papers."

Sheila opened the scroll with her pass to Yu-Shan to the vigilant guards. Only her keen ears heard one of the Celestial Lion's muttered complaints that this 'rest duty' was about to become as onerous as any of the other guard duties. That furrowed her brow in contemplation. Even though she was not the most empathetic person, she had been forced to note emotions.

And that Celestial Lion sounded tired. She wondered if Yu-Shan and the bureaucracy had mandatory vacations?

She stepped in through the gate and into a wonderland in despair. The roads were paved in green and blue jade steel while the walls were inlaid with Orichalcum and Moonsilver. But this did not change the fact that this road had the appearance of a slum. Just somehow a sublime slum. Many varied spirits were staring at her and Dom-Aptur as if they were freaks of nature.

"The gate opened! It opened!" a ragged looking lesser goddess shouted in joy. "Denendsor is coming alive?"

"Denendsor will live," Dom-Aptur called out. "And it will need its gods to bless its hundred forges."

Ragged cheering lit up at that announcement even as the Celestial Lions made sure that the gates closed behind them.

"Come, I will guide you to the Bureau of Humanity. Ventressi-Merdo awaits," the city-god said even as he seemed to pick his way through the throng of lesser gods of the slums of heaven that overshadowed palaces in the mortal creation with ease.

Sheila, for her part, was very, very weirded out by the thought of indigent gods. Of course, she had read up on the lesser gods and found out they were closer to spirits of the land that were forced to manage everything. And with Creation being in such a poor state, many had lost their 'jobs' during the Great Contagion when 90 % of all life had been killed. She suspected that the population of Creation's mortals was at a drastically low level, even centuries later.

The Bureau of Humanity was a large building, quite ornate and built to mimic the five elemental poles. Four towers rose up majestically into the air, while the fight, center tower was actually held up by arches.

As Sheila stepped through its doors, she was suddenly struck by how empty it felt.

She was led to a great hall where a long table was set. Here Tien Yu, Tu Yu and a few other gods were seated at a table that could fit at least another thirty easily.

Dom-Aptur sat next to his cousin, Aptorius. Tu Yu was muttering into his beard, causing Sheila to have to control a shudder as she realized that old city-god of Deheleshen was barking mad. She bowed her head to the end of the table where the leader of this meeting was sitting.

The Satrap of the East nodded his head slightly. "We shall now enter into the fourth phase of our investigation into the Calibration of Puyo. We have heard the testimony of Aptorius, and found no misconduct of his for that night, though several minor transgressions have levied a fine upon his salary for certain indiscretions," Ventressi-Merdo pronounced from the head of the table, causing Aptorius to flush in anger at his dirty secrets being laundered in the open in such a way. Especially in front of his half-mortal friend that had only helped him.

"We have spoken to Marilaq a'Lam, the Ambassador of Hell, and confirmed that Janequin's destruction has been noted," Tien Yu explained, not going into how this had upset the nearly imprisoned demon ambassador with their audacity.

Sheila kept quiet as she awaited them to ask her a question. Soon she was called to testify. She only harmonized her ichor to their society ways, letting her speak in their bureaucratic ways. She merely stressed that she had wished to aid Puyo's domestic peacekeeping during the odd time known as Calibration.

All of the gods listened carefully (and more than a few cautiously) as she spoke as easily as any censor or bureaucrat of any of the stations of Yu-Shan.

"That was illuminating," Gren, the city-god of Nexus said. "Do you mind me asking a question?"

"As it pleases you," she replied.

"Why did you break the status quo with Denendsor?"

"It is merely in the hands of mortals to raise up to its old heights of glory, if possible. It seems welcome by many in Creation and in Yu-Shan that such a shining example of advancement is being repopulated." Her blue-green eyes met his even as she frowned. She should know this person. But from where? She snapped her fingers mentally as she recalled a particular fellow when the Lookshy representative had met the Council of Entities of Nexus. She then gave the god a very big grin.

"Yes, how very important that she turned off the device in Denendsor. If we had not been disallowed to interfere I'm sure anyone here on this council could have done such an insignificant thing," Ventressi-Merdo said in a tone to antagonize most people present.

"I still think that something should be rewarded for that," Dom-Aptur said even as he seemed to wilt back into chair.

"It was a very helpful thing with some of the over crowding in District of Lost Verdants," Tien Yu said blandly.

"I will take that under advisement, all. While Heaven can not directly interfere with the matters of mortals, you intersected into the matters of Yu-Shan and the gods. In this case I have been allowed to offer a minor reward of Quintessence or Ambrosia." The regal and cold looking god of the Satrap of the East looked like he would rather be pulling teeth.

"Oh, a minor gift of Ambrosia? That would be heavenly. I've been trying to find a legal and moral source of Starmetal for my own creations that match my inclination," Sheila said blithely while emoting her happiness quite handily.

"Starmetal? That is the purview of the Five Maidens," Tu Yu said, confusion on his old and craggy features.

"It seemed to work best when I tried them all out earlier. I'm not Solar or Jade oriented, nor to the ways of Death." And she really was not, even if she could interact with ghosts slightly or the Storms.

"Thus ends this stage of the deliberation. Thank you all for coming," Ventressi-Merdo called out and tapped the bell in front of him.

"Sheila, would you accompany me to my home here in Yu-Shan? Athene is waiting for us," Tien Yu said as she stood and clomped over in her black-jade dragon armor.

"Certainly."

* * *

Yu-Shan was really quite different than anything Sheila had expected. Tien Yu had invited her to stay through the Calibration celebrations, which she could not say no to. The young demigoddess had begged Dom-Aptur to carry a message to her commander explaining that she had been hijacked into social functions with Tien Yu and other Bureau of Humanity gods.

Her ambrosia had been delivered just this morning. The every color block of solidified prayer was quite the enigma.

"Ambrosia," the child-like Athene said to her half-mortal mother.

"Er, yes. Slightly different than the ambrosia I'm familiar with. I need to figure out how to mold it into untainted Starmetal," Sheila said as she studied the light through the slightly translucent block of colors.

Tie Yu was sitting on one of her couches, outside of her armor but in an outfit that somehow stated 'military with full honors' without having a single marking of rank upon it.

"I will probably have to dedicate this to one of the Sisters." She had to giggle slightly, as the Sister of War sounded so very similar to her own uncle phonetically. "Mars."

"Why her?" the city-goddess of Lookshy asked curiously in her whisper-like way.

"I am a demigoddess of battle and excellence. Mars actually embodies things very similarly to my own mother; War and Excellence in battle. Paellas Athena was one of the two main war gods of my pantheon. Is, I mean." Sheila clenched her fist angrily. They could not be dead already. "Her brother was waton war that people prayed to avoid. She was her father's favorite, the only one allowed to wield his lightning bolts."

"They were special?" Athene asked curiously. Her bare legs kicked from the seat she was sitting on like any child would.

"They helped overthrow their parents the Titans and usher in the age of the gods," she admitted.

Tien Yu blinked, then narrowed her eyes. "I thought you said that the Titans were your form of Primordials?"

"To a degree. They may not be perfectly identical, but the Titans themselves are the metaphysical embodiments of reality. More elemental based, perhaps. Gaia was of the Earth verdant, aspects of Terra which is the concept of the elemental Earth, though she is also fertility and vitality. Even Zeus still has aspects of the Titans, as he has been known to swallow his children that he thinks might overthrow. That actually led to him swallowing my grandmother Metis while she was pregnant with my mother. Luckily she gave Zeus such a headache that Hephaestus split open Zeus's head to release her." There was always something odd about that story. Why had her mother appeared fully prepared for war at the moment of her release?

"Sheila is part Primordial and Mortal? That's really weird," Athene noted incautiously.

"I guess so. I hadn't really considered it that way," Sheila replied as she stared out the palatial window of Tien Yu's mansion.

"You have several party invitations, but nothing this week. Then it is one every few days until Calibration. If this year is anything like last year," the city-goddess of Lookshy explained. "Also, a few war-gods wish to test your mettle in combat. So expect to see some invitations to spars." She gave the two a quirky grin. "I expect that Tachi-Kun, the Central God of War may wish to see if you are a worthy opponent."

"How come I get the feeling there is a story about that?" the young demigoddess asked the war city-goddess with narrowed eyes.

"He is a bit upset that he can not best me in single combat. We are limited to non-lethal weapons, but we embody Lookshy versus the Realm quite handily." She gave a soft cough. "As you are not a goddess, your prayers have slightly fallen into my purview. I am keeping them banked for your ascension."

"Got a cult!" Athene said cutely while clapping.

"That should be enough time for me to materialize this as Starmetal, I think." Sheila was twirling the Ambrosia in her hand again.

"Yes, I would stay away from the black market of Starmetal. There are unpleasant factors involved in its creation. Gods go missing in the slums at times," Tien Yu said softly, barely above a whisper.

Unpleasant indeed, Sheila thought.

* * *

Sheila stepped out through the Gates of Yu-Shan, nodding politely to the Celestial Lions. "Thank you for the safe trip." She was ever so thankful for her sense of time, so that she did not get distracted by parties that lasted a whole week.

The metal doors closed just as the sound of explosions off in the distance sounded. She blinked for just a second and the blurred out of the cleaned up section of the palace Manse. Once she had a vantage, she could see that some band of attackers was at the wall, fighting the soldiers of Lookshy.

They were a weird, motley group of half-men and half-beast, riding large war-tigers. They did not seem to be able to take the wall and were fairing poorly against the heavy armor of the Lookhsy soldiers. A talon of Gunzyou (essentially magitech mortal cyborgs) and two full fangs of warstriders were leading a heavy infantry incursion on their right, even as two Manta-class transports flew overhead and light essence cannons through open windows rained concussive force upon the ragged army of thousands.

"Chuzei Sheila, reporting. Just returned from Yu-Shan," she said to the commanding officer, a taizei of some renown in the 4th Field Force. So that was why Tien Yu had been slightly distracted for the last week.

"Well met. I admit we would have loved to see you here a week ago when the Trickster Anathema and his Wyld-tainted barbarian hordes appeared." The older officer was studying the field of combat closely, sending runners with messengers for the different talons and scales to move in careful tandem.

Lookshy was crushing the disorganized warriors. On a low hilltop outside of Denendsor, a massive howl erupted from a strange, hunched over figure that looked like a half-wolverine half-human, covered in silver tattoos that nearly glowed under the dawning sunlight. Blood flowed freely from a massive gash on its shoulder, turning its matted brown fur a nappy black.

But before his position could be overrun with warstriders, gunzosha and dragonblooded heavy ground troops, he finished a spell of teleportation to flee his ruined army.


End file.
